The Coast Guard is trying to figure out where tar balls that washed up on Cocoa Beach came from. A sample is heading out this week for testing in Connecticut.
The Coast Guard says the situation is better now but small tar balls may sporadically wash up. Crews cleaned up the globs of tar that dotted the shoreline at Cocoa Beach late last week.
Petty Officer Adrien Lively said the source is unknown but that oil could have seeped up from the ocean floor.
“Oil wells can sometimes seep out gallons of oil that come out and it will sit on the bottom for years and become weathered and show up on the beach in the form of tar patties and tar balls,” said Lively.
Lively said there was a similar tar ball cleanup at Cocoa Beach two years ago. He said beachgoers should call the Coast Guard if they come across them.