A plastic ball released under water will come up to the surface of water. The density of water is greater than that of plastic. Hence, when a plastic ball is under water, the magnitude of the buoyant force exerted by water on the ball is greater than the magnitude of the weight of the ball.
Therefore, the ball will start moving upward. As it comes up with part of the ball above the water surface, the volume of the water displaced by the ball becomes less and hence at a certain stage, the buoyant force and the weight balance each other. Then the ball continues to remain in that state, as the net force on the ball becomes zero.
[Note: Initially, the ball moves slightly up and down near the water surface. The force due to friction with water, opposing the motion of the ball, finally makes the ball steady.]
