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Alaskan Blob Is an Algae Bloom

Posted by timothy on from the no-sixes-here-just-a-couple-of-nines dept.

Bryan Gividen writes "Time.com is running a story on the previously unidentified blob floating off of the coast of Alaska. The article states that the blob is an algae bloom — far less sinister (or exciting) than any The Thing or The Blob comparison that was jokingly made. From the article: '"It's sort of like a swimming pool that hasn't been cleaned in a while." The blob, Konar said, is a microalgae made up of 'billions and billions of individuals.'"

1 of 130 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Great. Now let's find out ... by Sinn3d · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Till it dies off .. then we might get another dead zone.

    When algal blooms die off, oxygen is used to decompose the algae which creates hypoxic conditions.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_zone_(ecology)

    Ofcourse I didn't RTFA... maybe this isn't a harmfull kind.