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AMAZING balls of ‘woven’ fibres were a surprise and delight to Mystery Bay resident Dean Ware when he found some washed ashore at Fullers Beach, south of Narooma. Have you seen them too?
Dean writes – “I first came across them in August 2012 and again in April the next year. I think these were from the same batch or storm tide. They were mostly 60mm to 100mm, some round and some more oval shaped.
Then in May 2013 I was down at Cape Conran on the Croajingolong coast in Victoria and the whole shore was littered with them.
It was quite a sight. The balls were much bigger and more perfectly round, washed along the high tide line and through the back grasses.
Because there was so many I found the whole range from the initial stages to completely finished. You could see that they began forming around a piece of sea sponge and that thin hard grasses or fibres would prick into the sponge. Over time and tide they slowly formed into a ball or cocoon shape.
The biggest I found were a 190mm diameter ball and a cocoon 290mm long. Some were hard and cropped and others were loose like a `Rasta` hair style.
The balls appear to be made of the roots or fibres of Posidonia seagrasses (strapweed or tapeweed) but they trap all sorts of flotsam as well. Driftwood, sticks, bamboo, other varieties of sponge, coral, feathers, marram and spinifex grasses, fishing line and shell fragments were just some of the inclusions. All contained lots of sand.
It was amazing to find so many of these unusual balls but other people on the beach seemed totally oblivious to them. To me they are like a treasure from the ocean and to come across one or a few on the tide line always feels magical.
A friend who dives said that he`d seen them underwater washed in the rock holes. This might explain how they form, being mixed and dragged with the swell and tides.
As a long-time surfer you`d think I would have seen them before. But like many of nature’s gifts these sculptures are ephemeral and, like all organic things stranded on a shore, unless found will eventually return to nature. Hidden secrets of the tide line.”
Dean was inspired to photograph the sea balls as part of his south coast series. You can see more of his wonderful photos by Googling Flickr: driftfoot.
The Nature Coast Marine Group has an extensive program of activities where members can have fun learning about our marine environment. New members are always welcome.
To find out more about the Group and to see other stories in this series, visit the website www.ncmg.org.au or search for Nature Coast Marine Group on Facebook and follow us there.