Samples of the unusual plastic-like substance that washed up on beaches on the Coromandel Peninsula have been sent to scientists for testing.

On Saturday, residents of Matarangi Beach collected six bags of white stripes of what appeared to be shredded paper but looked like plastic, along a 100-meter stretch of their beach.

Today, Thames-Coromandel District Council Civil Defense Comptroller Garry Towler said samples are being sent to Waikato Regional Council for their scientist to confirm.

“Fresh samples were collected today and are being sent to Hamilton. The results are unlikely to be back today. We should know by tomorrow.

Matarangi Beach resident Peter Collins said he was made aware of the substance when a lady posted a photo to her local Facebook page on Thursday.

“The photo was of the woman holding a handful of the things she had picked up on Matarangi beach,” says Peter.

“She asked ‘what is this?’ I went down to have a look and saw it was the entire length of Matarangi beach. Over a mile long. “

The unusual plastic-like substance that washed up on the beaches of the Coromandel coast. Photo: Peter Collins.

Wondering if it could be plastic, Peter immediately tried to contact the local district and regional councils.

After feeling lost and having traveled the world, he decided to take matters into his own hands.

“If it is plastic, it will return to the sea and harm our marine life and our wild birds,” says Peter.

“The Waikato Pollution Regional Council said they didn’t want to deal with it and didn’t have a budget and I needed to contact the local council.”

Peter then contacted the Thames Coromandel District Council.

“They are still arguing with the WRC Pollution team and not committing to anything. The beach was crystal clear on Wednesday. This happened after that royal tide on Thursday. TCDC said contacting the pollution team at the regional council of Waikato WRC says it’s a local waste issue.

Still unsure whether it was plastic or not, and unable to get someone from the boards to come take a look and see if it was plastic, Peter felt something needed to be done.

“I tested it in the flame. It melts and doesn’t break down, just brittle, ”says Peter.

“The council determined over the phone and recorded that it was plastic waste.”

About 30 community members joined him to help him clean up the beach on Saturday by meticulously picking up the white plastic-like material that was caught in the algae along the beach and washed up in the sand.

Residents of Matarangi Beach helped collect the white plastic-like substance from their beach on Saturday. Photo: Peter Collins.

Peter heard from others on Sunday that the strange substance was also appearing on many other beaches in Coromandel – Whangapoa Beach, Matarangi Beach, Rings Beach, Opito Beach, Kuaotunu Beach and Otama Beach.

He asked the folks on Facebook to go check their beaches and learned that it was also on Waiheke Island and St Lennard’s Beach.

Coromandel MP Scott Simpson at Matarangi Beach on Sunday videotaping his thoughts. Photo: Peter Collins.

Hearing about Sunday morning, Coromandel MP Scott Simpson came from the Thames to take a look for himself.

“I brought a few with me down the Thames,” Simpson says.

“Once it’s dry, it’s clear, it’s organic, not plastic. But when wet, it has the texture of plastic.

“When I first saw him on the beach on Sunday, he looked like plastic. I can totally understand why the locals are worried about it.

“It was in the foreshore environment and it didn’t seem like it was part of the foreshore environment. But when I took it off and it had dried – and I’m just a layman – it looked organic.

On Sunday evening, the Thames-Coromandel District Council Emergency Management Unit sent a message saying it had received confirmation from the Waikato District Council that “the shredded plastic-looking substance, which washes off the east coast is organic matter “and that it was dead seagrass.

Peter says he and other Matarangai residents were surprised that council could determine it was plastic and not plastic without seeing it for themselves.

There has been some discussion within the community about what the substance might be.

Ideas range from the royal tide bringing dead sea grass ashore, or perhaps artificial sea grass to sea rugs placed in Whangapoa harbor.

Residents of Matarangi Beach helped collect the white plastic-like substance from their beach on Saturday. Photo: Peter Collins.

“It’s nothing that no one has ever seen here,” said Peter. “A lot of people are now saying on Facebook that it’s not organic. We need to know. If it’s seagrass, has the dredging killed everything? It is then an important part of the ecosystem.

“I called the unit, asked them how they tested it,” says Peter.

“They weren’t sure and said they told Garry Towler it was sea grass. They didn’t know if he had been tested. “

Garry is the Civil Defense Controller for the Thames-Coromandel District Council Emergency Management Unit team.

“I told them that hundreds of volunteers withdrew because of the letter. They call me back, ”says Peter.

Peter contacted a marine scientist at the University of Otago and mailed samples on Monday morning.

He also sent samples to SunLive which will be sent to marine scientists based in Tauranga.

He says residents are wondering whether to continue collecting it until they get results.

“I can’t find any testing location in Whitianga, even DOC can’t help locally,” says Peter.

“It is going to be devastating if we wait weeks or days and find out that it is man-made.”

Simpson is very happy he made the hour-long trip from the Thames on Sunday to search for himself.

“It would have been really bad not to go and see. Anything that could be an environmental disaster, we need to know immediately. “

Waikato Area Council’s communications team leader Wendy Valois told SunLive on Monday afternoon that the area council would be reviewing the material and that the area council had not told anyone from the district council on Sunday that he was biological.

“Until they see it under a microscope, our scientists won’t determine what it is,” says Wendy.

“We have a number of scientists who will look at it when the sample arrives. They will try to determine under a microscope whether it is an artificial or a natural substance.

Wendy is not sure how a communication sent on Sunday by the Thames-Coromandel District Council could have included that the Waikato District Council confirmed the material was organic when the district council had not yet accessed it.

The unusual plastic-like substance that washed up on the beaches of the Coromandel coast. Photo: Peter Collins.