Steel ball resurfaces again at Black’s Beach

On Sunday, a crew of lifeguards at Black’s Beach discovered that “the elusive steel ball” has resurfaced after a 2-year hiatus, this time washing up along the north end of the beach.

“We haven’t seen it in a few years, so it’s kinda fun to see it now!” a Black’s Beach regular exclaimed.

An off-duty lifeguard, speaking in an unofficial capacity told us, “It is believed to be an old mooring from some sort of naval ship or shipping container based out of Los Angeles or Long Beach; it made its way down the coast during an early 1980s El Niño winter, and made landfall in La Jolla at Black's Beach...it takes a lot of surf and a lot of sand movement to get it to relocate ‘naturally’ on the sand, which happens every so often during the large winter storms. Most of the time it stays buried.”

During periods of exposure though, the mooring often receives lots of love.

“It has been painted various times depicting nude beaches from across the world (since Black's is a nude beach), a pumpkin, and a golf ball in honor of the Torrey Pines Golf Course that rests above the bluff. Right now it sits about 100 yards south of Mussel Rocks, which is at the far north end of Black's Beach. Its size is probably around 5 ft in diameter…soon enough, the sand and sea will take it back under ground with the king tides and the hunt will continue.”