After four shark attacks in New South Wales in less than 48 hours, authorities on Tuesday urged beachgoers just go to a local pool instead. Sydneysiders have heard similar warnings before in the past, they've been issued for beaches polluted with faecal matter after heavy rains. The city's unique, outdated sewage management system has been linked to debris balls which have been washing up with increased frequency on Sydney beaches, including again last week at Malabar.
Going back to early this year, the megaberg weighed around one trillion tonnes - about 100 million times as heavy as the Eiffel Tower in Paris. At its peak, A23a was around 1,540 sq miles in area - more than twice the size of Greater London (607 sq miles) - and a whopping 1,312 feet thick. Now, it is 683 square miles and 37 miles at its widest point, according to AFP analysis of satellite images, making it less than half its original size.
