Naturally occurring tar balls are washing up on Texas beach

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Be careful not to get yourself in a sticky situation this week if you're visiting Padre Island National Seashore.

Naturally occurring tar balls started washing up on the beach Monday morning.

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"Normally, they're pretty hard, but the stuff that's been washing up right now is very soft and people have been getting it stuck on them," according to a PINS Facebook post.

A spokesperson for the park said the tar balls are just a sign of the abundance of oil in the area and that the oil seeps out naturally.

Oil based products, specifically baby oil, are considered to be the best way to wash the tar off shoes, skin, etc.

The tar balls range in size from the diameter of a dime up to 6 inches.

PINS employees and volunteers try to clean up as much of the tar as possible and typically, any leftover tar gets buried or washed back out to sea, according to the spokesperson.

A Sticky Situation We sometimes get natural tar balls that wash up on the beach. Normally, they're pretty hard, but...

Posted by Padre Island National Seashore on Monday, May 6, 2019