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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.'"

4 of 130 comments (clear)

  1. Great. Now let's find out ... by Ihlosi · · Score: 3, Interesting

    ... how we can turn this thing into something useful. Gasoline, maybe?

    1. Re:Great. Now let's find out ... by Tenebrousedge · · Score: 2, Interesting

      It's true, and a side benefit is we get a layer of water saturated with toxic hydrogen sulfide. Millions of years later, all of that sequestered carbon may be returned to us in the form of coal or oil.

      There's a fair amount of evidence indicating this has happened on a global scale. Mostly we call that evidence 'Arabia'.

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      Those who advocate genocide deserve every protection afforded by law, and none afforded by common human decency.
    2. Re:Great. Now let's find out ... by j-turkey · · Score: 4, Interesting

      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.

      That's an excellent point - and I was going to visit this idea until I read your post. It would be very interesting to see a study on the local ecosystem, and if there are any issues with nutrient runoff nearby from local human population, logging, or agriculture (the usual suspects for nutrient loading and algal blooms). I found it dubious that a quote in the article seemed to indirectly point to global climate change as a cause (the quote was "...as a result of global change"). Seems like it's so easy to scapegoat that as the villain responsible for any malignant ecological change without the need for any, you know, real science. (It's also easier to get grants when a hypothesis or grant proposal's title suggests an agenda-based search for a causal link between phenomena X and global climate change)

      The phenomena that most commonly leads to algal blooms, anoxic water columns, and ultimately a dead zone (or fish kill) is known as eutrophication. I spent my first years of undergrad (literally) knee deep in poo studying nutrient loading in water tables...ultimately leading to eutrophication. What a great wake-up call for me to get the hell out of the natural sciences. Poo stinks almost as much as academic bureaucracy and begging for grants! :)

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      -Turkey

  2. The real question should be why is it there? by WindBourne · · Score: 2, Interesting

    These do not happen at the poles. It normally requires warmer water. So, what is feeding this in such cold water?

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