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Huge Unidentified Organic Blob Floating Around Alaska

Posted by samzenpus on from the real-reason-Palin-resigned dept.

Z80xxc! writes "The Anchorage Daily News reports that a 15 mile-long blob of unknown, 'gooey,' probably organic material is floating past communities on Alaska's North Slope. The US Coast Guard sent pollution experts to investigate, who determined that it was not an oil spill or other type of pollution, but were unable to determine what it is. A sample is currently being analyzed by experts in Anchorage, while the blob is following the current northwards."

12 of 424 comments (clear)

  1. Algal Bloom by ZackSchil · · Score: 4, Informative

    It looks like a bunch of seaweed and an algal bloom.

  2. CTHULU finally watched GamerZ by Ralph+Spoilsport · · Score: 2, Informative

    and puked.

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    Shoes for Industry. Shoes for the Dead.
  3. Re:Reading is FUNdamental! by jagilbertvt · · Score: 2, Informative

    Except that it is moving with the current. It probably moved 3 miles in the time it took him to go 15.

  4. Do algal blooms eat geese???? by brunes69 · · Score: 2, Informative

    "It's pitch black when it hits ice and it kind of discolors the ice and hangs off of it," Brower said. He saw some jellyfish tangled up in the stuff, and someone turned in what was left of a dead goose -- just bones and feathers -- to the borough's wildlife department.

    1. Re:Do algal blooms eat geese???? by ZackSchil · · Score: 3, Informative

      No, but they sometimes kill geese with the toxins they emit. And organisms not affected by the toxins would probably enjoy eating a dead goose.

    2. Re:Do algal blooms eat geese???? by geekoid · · Score: 2, Informative

      Occasionaly you can find seaweed patches with dead bird remains in them. Does that mean the seaweed is eating the birds? no.

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      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  5. Re:Looks like whale blood to me by Tenebrousedge · · Score: 2, Informative

    Really?

    Then again, I'm from Alaska. Maybe there are a bunch of gray, gooey, congealed whales up here, and I've never noticed.

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    Those who advocate genocide deserve every protection afforded by law, and none afforded by common human decency.
  6. Re:Creepshow 2, anyone? by Migraineman · · Score: 4, Informative

    The young-uhns don't appear to know what you're talking about.

  7. Re:Looks like whale blood to me by Farmer+Tim · · Score: 3, Informative

    Then again, I'm in Philadelphia and have no idea what whale blood looks like

    Now you know.

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    Blank until /. makes another boneheaded UI decision.
  8. Re:Whale sneezed by Knara · · Score: 2, Informative

    You should know by now that, no matter the subject, Slashdot comments are no place for the puritanical.

  9. Re:It's the smog monster! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    The trick would be to move Tokyo Tower. Convince the Japanese government to donate it to the US, as long as they put it up in DC. Everyone knows Tokyo Tower is the weirdness magnet.

  10. I don't remember this exactly, but ... by J.R.BOFH · · Score: 5, Informative

    Around 10-15 years ago, the same thing happened off the Icelandic Westfjords, which is the north-west part of Iceland. At first, it was believed to be a spill of the waste matter from fish oil production, but then scientists determined it was caused by a mass death of some species of plankton, which are really small, almost microscopic crustaceans or similar. This particular species was quite oily and died off en masse because of increased sea temperatures or some such.
    As I said, I can't remember any useful details, but that's more or less what happened back then, sometime near the end of last century off the coast of North-West Iceland.

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    J. Random BOFH