Tar Balls Wash Up On Key Biscayne, Hollywood Beaches

No day like Earth Day to discover aquatic pollutants in two state park beaches

Scattered tar balls washed ashore over an 800-foot stretch of Key Biscayne beach Friday, officials with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection confirmed.

The oil blobs -- aquatic pollutants formed by petroleum products weathered by saltwater -- arrived at Bill Baggs State Park, unwelcome Earth Day visitors that caused red warning flags to fly over the beach.

Additional tar balls were carried ashore at John U. Lloyd State Park in Hollywood, where they were marked with cones to protect the public and provide locations for investigators.

Kristin Lock, a spokeswoman for the FDEP, said the threat to wildlife in the area appeared to be minimal.

The tar balls will be inspected to determine whether or not they are related to last year's Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the gulf, from oil dumped from ships' bilges, other offshore rigs, or from naturally occurring ocean floor seepage.

Though experts forecast an 80% chance oil and tar balls from the Deepwater Horizon spill would reach South Florida, tar balls that washed up on Key West in May were determined to be unrelated.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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