Alaskan Blob Is an Algae Bloom

Great. Now let's find out ... by Ihlosi · 2009-07-20 02:15 · Score: 3, Interesting

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

Re:Great. Now let's find out ... by LeoPercepied · 2009-07-20 02:18 · Score: 5, Informative

It already works as oxygen generator...
Re:Great. Now let's find out ... by vintagepc · 2009-07-20 02:24 · Score: 1

Isn't that all The Blob was doing - Turning us in to something useful for itself?
How would doing that that make us any better?

--
Evolution - Est. 4500000000 B.C. Don't piss in the gene pool.
Re:Great. Now let's find out ... by Sinn3d · 2009-07-20 02:32 · 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.
Re:Great. Now let's find out ... by LeoPercepied · 2009-07-20 02:41 · Score: 1

Turns out.... you can turn it into gasoline!
http://www.shell.ca/home/content/innovation/about_us/news_publications/shell_world_stories/2008/algae/
Re:Great. Now let's find out ... by Philip+K+Dickhead · 2009-07-20 02:47 · Score: 5, Funny

Summer's here! The Algae's in bloom and love is in the air! Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.

--
"Speaking the Truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act." -- George Orwell
Re:Great. Now let's find out ... by A.+B3ttik · 2009-07-20 03:03 · Score: 4, Funny

... how we can turn this thing into something useful. Gasoline, maybe?
Nope. Can't do that. Leave it alone.

This Study was performed by an independent panel of researchers from Miskatonic University, peer-reviewed by a group of scientists from Innsmouth, Massachussettes.

Nothing to see here, folks, move along.
Re:Great. Now let's find out ... by Talennor · 2009-07-20 03:03 · Score: 1

Look on the bright side, a dead zone is carbon sequestering! Organics that should rightly be metabolized into CO2 are left out of the atmosphere since there's no O2 hanging around!

--

//TODO: signature
Re:Great. Now let's find out ... by FatdogHaiku · 2009-07-20 03:35 · Score: 1

Summer's here! The Algae's in bloom and love is in the air! Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.
If I eat and drink the algae I may not make it to tomorrow...

--
You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
Re:Great. Now let's find out ... by Divide+By+Zero · 2009-07-20 03:36 · Score: 2, Funny

Harvest it for pearls, but beware the mindworms. They'll turn you crazier than Sister Miriam Godwinson.

--
Dare to Hope. Prepare to be Disappointed.
Re:Great. Now let's find out ... by Tenebrousedge · 2009-07-20 03:47 · 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'.

--
Those who advocate genocide deserve every protection afforded by law, and none afforded by common human decency.
Re:Great. Now let's find out ... by Hatta · 2009-07-20 03:51 · Score: 2, Funny

Don't worry. Gohan will just lock Garlic in there again.

--
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
Re:Great. Now let's find out ... by A.+B3ttik · 2009-07-20 04:09 · Score: 1

Use Google before commenting on something you obviously know nothing about.

Oh, and...

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH.
Re:Great. Now let's find out ... by ground.zero.612 · 2009-07-20 04:13 · Score: 1

I'd like to remind you all of the post I made the other day in the Dow/Algenol article. So, now that we know the blob is algae, let's really hope it doesn't get pissed at Dow!

--
"Be prepared, son. That's my motto. Be prepared." --Joe Hallenbeck
Re:Great. Now let's find out ... by b4upoo · 2009-07-20 04:16 · Score: 2, Informative

In my area we feed algae to the talapia and other exotic, food fish. There are lots of good fresh water fish that love gobbling up weeds an algae.
Re:Great. Now let's find out ... by An+ominous+Cow+art · 2009-07-20 05:22 · Score: 1

What do we know? Noctilucent clouds migrating south, strange blotches on Jupiter, huge algae blooms off of Alaska-- and, most damning of all, a malfunctioning toilet on the ISS.
Something is happening out there. Something BIG. :-)
Re:Great. Now let's find out ... by j-turkey · 2009-07-20 05:53 · 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! :)

--

-Turkey
Re:Great. Now let's find out ... by damien_kane · 2009-07-20 10:23 · Score: 1

Something is happening out there. Something BIG. :-)
Shh... don't let them know you're on to them, or you'll [be reassigned] just like that other guy who I will neither confirm nor deny being an associate of...
Re:Great. Now let's find out ... by fernandolbastos · 2009-07-20 11:11 · Score: 1

So... instead of grey, green goo?
Re:Great. Now let's find out ... by Sumbius · 2009-07-20 11:58 · Score: 1

Just wait till this Bob the Blob starts growing synapses between it's algae and finds the pleasures of dopamine production. Living, breathing and thinking blob is in the coast of Alaska, and its horny. Our worst fears come true. Lets just feed it some caffeine too... On the more serious note, I have seen algae blooms quite a many times in my life but that one really is big. I too hope that it will not create a huge dead zone, but what can we do? I don't want to blame the global warming, but it does increase the chances of one of these huge blobs forming. Lets just hope that its not poisonous and it won't float towards a swimming beach. I also have to admit that the geek inside of me hoped that this would be something more. It may be caused by me watching 3 seasons of x-files withing a week before the news first reached slashdot and just having read the swarm, but a geek can dream, a geek can dream...

Billions and billions... by thisnamestoolong · 2009-07-20 02:18 · Score: 5, Funny

The blob, Konar said, is a microalgae made up of 'billions and billions of individuals.'"

Am I the only one who could not help but hear that quote in Carl Sagan's voice?

--
To the haters: You can't win. If you mod me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine

Re:Billions and billions... by huckamania · 2009-07-20 03:03 · Score: 1

Even weirder, the first time I read it, I thought the blob's name was Konar and was communicating with us.
Now that would be News for Nerds...
Re:Billions and billions... by GargamelSpaceman · 2009-07-20 03:22 · Score: 1

Anyway, the technical term is Zillions.

--
...
Re:Billions and billions... by ajs · 2009-07-20 03:51 · Score: 1, Informative

Wikipedia points out:

From Cosmos and his frequent appearances on The Tonight Show, Sagan became associated with the catch phrase "billions and billions". As Sagan himself stated, he never actually used the phrase in the Cosmos series.[18] The closest that he ever came was in the book Cosmos, where he talked of "billions upon billions":[19]

A galaxy is composed of gas and dust and stars -- billions upon billions of stars.
-- Carl Sagan, Cosmos, chapter 1, page 3[20]
However, his frequent use of the word billions, and distinctive delivery emphasizing the "b" (which he did intentionally, in place of more cumbersome alternatives such as "billions with a 'b'", in order to distinguish the word from "millions" in viewers' minds[18]), made him a favorite target of comic performers including Johnny Carson, Gary Kroeger, Mike Myers,[21] Bronson Pinchot, Harry Shearer, and others. Frank Zappa satirized the line in the song Be In My Video, noting as well 'atomic light.' Sagan took this all in good humor, and his final book was entitled Billions and Billions which opened with a tongue-in-cheek discussion of this catch phrase, observing that Carson himself was an amateur astronomer and that Carson's comic caricature often included real science.[18]
I read an interview with him once where he was asked about it, and he responded that it makes him kind of frustrated, since the phrase is nonsensical. There's no change in order of magnitude, so there's no point in tacking on the extra "and billions."
Re:Billions and billions... by erroneus · 2009-07-20 04:30 · Score: 1

Ah... I miss Carl Sagan. We really need some more "science celebrities" out there like him to inspire young children everywhere the way Sagan did. Perhaps I am missing out on something or we simply don't have those people any longer. My earliest recollections were of this really old guy with an angry face and an angry voice who played with toys while demonstrating physics. Not sure I ever knew his name, but as a child, I was fascinated by the things he did. I didn't grow up with Mr. Wizard on his first go around, but I enjoyed his show the second go even though I was an adult by that time. Bill Nye the science guy? Put him away with the rest of the pop-culture short-attention-span people. Science does require more than 15 to 30 second clips to really grasp and appreciate and often takes hours or even days to really get into.
But Sagan was the king of astronomy and stuff like that. And yes, his voice and mannerisms had a lot to do with it. But how else can you attempt to describe the vastness of space and all the stuff floating around in it without using catchy things like "billions and billions?" Sure it was repetitive, but it never got old with me.
We definitely need celebrity science people... we need a paleontologist, a geologist, an astrophysicist, an archaeologist, and who knows what else to come together into a series that really goes over the world and the galaxy and universe and just tell amazing stories about everything. I know I'd watch it all the time. We need more about stuff like that.
Oh how I miss those days when I loved learning about all that stuff.
Re:Billions and billions... by Zerth · 2009-07-20 06:03 · Score: 1

My earliest recollections were of this really old guy with an angry face and an angry voice who played with toys while demonstrating physics. Not sure I ever knew his name, but as a child, I was fascinated by the things he did.

From that description, I can only assume you mean Julius Sumner Miller, because "physics is my business" is burned into my brain.
When I was a kid, I'd rather watch him instead of cartoons, even if he was freakin scary.
Re:Billions and billions... by An+ominous+Cow+art · 2009-07-20 06:13 · Score: 2, Funny

a paleontologist, a geologist, an astrophysicist, an archaeologist
walk into a bar...
Re:Billions and billions... by erroneus · 2009-07-20 07:32 · Score: 1

Thanks for that. Yes, that's the man. I kinda knew he wasn't from the U.S. but it was a little hard to tell exactly where he was from. The information you linked to explains a lot. Yes, it was kinda scary looking but I got over that pretty quickly.
Re:Billions and billions... by StikyPad · 2009-07-20 08:11 · Score: 1

Yeah, well, anyone who's ever watched Cosmos knows that he's said plenty of nonsensical things. It may have made sense to someone baked out of their gourd, but his spiritual commentary was just inane, and his earnest effort to convey his excitement about the universe made the "billions and billions" quote quite plausible. So while it may not have been something he ever said, it certainly captures the essence of (the public image of) Sagan.

--
https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere

so... by gEvil+(beta) · 2009-07-20 02:19 · Score: 4, Funny

So, it is alive!

--
This guy's the limit!

Re:so... by Caledfwlch · 2009-07-20 03:03 · Score: 5, Funny

Sponge Blob!

--
These views express my own personal opinions, not those of the other voices in my head
Re:so... by A.+B3ttik · 2009-07-20 03:44 · Score: 1

Outside of your mother's basement, there is a concept called "Humor." I suggest you google it.

Ok, guys... by Anonymous Coward · 2009-07-20 02:20 · Score: 5, Funny

Whose turn was it to chlorine the ocean?

Re:Ok, guys... by vintagepc · 2009-07-20 02:23 · Score: 4, Funny

Remember the previous post? "... from the-real-reason-palin-resigned" dept?
'nuff said.

--
Evolution - Est. 4500000000 B.C. Don't piss in the gene pool.
Re:Ok, guys... by markov_chain · 2009-07-20 03:35 · Score: 1

I thought you said iodine! Doh

--
Tsunami -- You can't bring a good wave down!
Re:Ok, guys... by CompMD · 2009-07-20 04:47 · Score: 1

Hey, that's not funny. Seriously, if we put chlorine in the ocean, where will we get baby seals to club?

I read that as... by Anonymous Coward · 2009-07-20 02:21 · Score: 1

Alaskan Bob. Then I thought to myself, "hey, isn't that the guy who eats raw fish and is cool?"

Alaksan Bob by Hanners1979 · 2009-07-20 02:22 · Score: 5, Funny

For some reason I initially read the headline as "Alaksan Bob", and assumed it was going to be about Sarah Palin's replacement.

Mind you, she probably can see this blob from her house...

Re:Alaksan Bob by JCSoRocks · 2009-07-20 03:10 · Score: 4, Funny

Actually she's planning on flying overhead in a chopper and shooting it. We she gets bored of that she'll probably upgrade to a flamethrower or a rocket launcher.

--
You are using English. Please learn the difference between loose and lose; they're, there, and their; your and you're.
Re:Alaksan Bob by MillionthMonkey · 2009-07-20 03:58 · Score: 1

It's very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia. As Putin rears his head and comes into the airspace of the United States of America, where do they go? It's Alaska's Blob. It's just right over the border. It is from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right next to, they are right next to our Blob.
Re:Alaksan Bob by je+ne+sais+quoi · 2009-07-20 04:29 · Score: 3, Funny

We she gets bored of that she'll probably upgrade to a flamethrower or a rocket launcher.
Yeah, and then when that doesn't work, she'll resign from blob shooting, claiming that it is a "superficial political blood sport" and "I know when it's time to pass the ball for victory."

--
Gentlemen! You can't fight in here, this is the war room!
Re:Alaksan Bob by dkf · 2009-07-20 11:19 · Score: 1

Actually she's planning on flying overhead in a chopper and shooting it. We she gets bored of that she'll probably upgrade to a flamethrower or a rocket launcher.
Don't do that! You'll just make it mad...

--
"Little does he know, but there is no 'I' in 'Idiot'!"
Re:Alaksan Bob by robocrop · 2009-07-20 14:59 · Score: 1

When I saw the headline I thought, "Gee, I bet some left-wing douchebag is going to make a lame Palin joke". And I was right. You left-wing douchebags are so predictable. By the way, how's your guy working out? Oh yeah, he's a complete failure. But keep making fun of things Palin didn't say - it shows how smart you are.

my question is... by martas · 2009-07-20 02:22 · Score: 1

how does that huge thing stick together?

--
weinersmith

Re:my question is... by FlyingSquidStudios · 2009-07-20 02:28 · Score: 4, Funny

Love.

--
http://twitter.com/OLDTELEGRAM
Re:my question is... by morgan_greywolf · 2009-07-20 02:41 · Score: 1

how does that huge thing stick together?
Krazy Glue. It can hold a man suspended in mid-air!

--
My blog
Re:my question is... by Tynin · 2009-07-20 04:50 · Score: 1

I'd assume through loose bonds formed during growth. Maybe it grew up in a calmer area in a bay, and then it was knocked lose once it was a decent sized mass and it simply kept on growing.
Re:my question is... by oldhack · 2009-07-20 05:18 · Score: 1

Yep, that gooey gluey stuff. Kinda disgusting, actually.

--
Fuck systemd. Fuck Redhat. Fuck Soylent, too. Wait, scratch the last one.

All right... by FlyingSquidStudios · 2009-07-20 02:22 · Score: 1, Funny

I, for one, welcome our new photosynthetic overlords.

--
http://twitter.com/OLDTELEGRAM

shoggoth by Anonymous Coward · 2009-07-20 02:31 · Score: 1

i thought it was a shoggoth.

Comet Impact off Alaska! by BrightSpark · 2009-07-20 02:32 · Score: 1

It missed Jupiter after all. :-)

Microalgae? by Hatta · 2009-07-20 02:32 · Score: 4, Funny

If that's microalgae, I'd hate to see macroalgae.

--
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!

Re:Microalgae? by cylcyl · 2009-07-20 03:18 · Score: 1

yeah thinking the same thing.
They say that it's square miles in area, so, let's say 2. As this is microalgae. algae would be 2x10^6 sq miles in surface area. Earth is 197x10^6 sq mile in size.
so, a hecto-algae would cover the entire earth!

Perhaps a small antidote to global warming? by Viol8 · 2009-07-20 02:34 · Score: 1, Insightful

Because when these die most will fall to the bottom of the deep ocean and get buried taking their carbon with them. Perhaps millions of years from now this bloom WILL be back as oil! :)

Re:Perhaps a small antidote to global warming? by gestalt_n_pepper · 2009-07-20 03:01 · Score: 1

At which time future "intelligent" life use it up at unsustainable rates to power a new fangled invention called distance vision so they can watch re-runs of a comedy called "Cheers."
Uh, wait a minute....

--
Please do not read this sig. Thank you.

what it really looked like... by DragonTHC · 2009-07-20 02:34 · Score: 1

I first thought it was a ton of barber hair dumped in the ocean that had become a bacterial colony. That's what it looked like. But I can see it being algae now.

--
They're using their grammar skills there.

Miso Soup? by yogibaer · 2009-07-20 02:36 · Score: 2, Funny

... just add Tofu.

Whale Semen by Stu1706 · 2009-07-20 02:37 · Score: 5, Funny

It would have been way funnier if it turned out to be whale semen.

Re:Whale Semen by gestalt_n_pepper · 2009-07-20 03:02 · Score: 3, Funny

Thar she blows!

--
Please do not read this sig. Thank you.
Re:Whale Semen by not-my-real-name · 2009-07-20 05:19 · Score: 1

Thar she blows!
Let me explain something to you...

--
un-ALTERED reproduction and dissimination of this IMPORTANT information is ENCOURAGED
Re:Whale Semen by gestalt_n_pepper · 2009-07-20 05:27 · Score: 1

Well, I didn't say she *swallowed*. Still, a whale of a good time was had by all.

--
Please do not read this sig. Thank you.
Re:Whale Semen by iggymanz · 2009-07-20 11:11 · Score: 1

two hungry whales were having a discussion.
moby: let's blow on that trawler's sails, and when it tips we can suck down all that fish on deck
willy: ok, I'll blow and suck,..but I'm not swallowing any seamen.

Far less sinister? by sxltrex · 2009-07-20 02:50 · Score: 3, Insightful

How do we know? Maybe The Blob was just a really angry algae bloom? Those Deadliest Catch guys better not piss this one off!

Re:Far less sinister? by bill_mcgonigle · 2009-07-20 08:55 · Score: 3, Funny

How do we know? Maybe The Blob was just a really angry algae bloom?
Algae is dumb, just like a simple neuron. It's not until you get billions and billions of neurons together... oh, wait.

--
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)

siiiigh by PumpkinDog · 2009-07-20 02:57 · Score: 1, Funny

just when i thought my monday couldn't get any more boring :(

Warmer water leads to . . . by quixote9 · 2009-07-20 03:04 · Score: 5, Informative

algal blooms. One of the prime symptoms of anthropogenic warming is disproportionate warming at night and at the North and South Poles. We're a smart bunch here at Slashdot, right? (Right?) We can figure out what that means.

Like a previous commenter said, yes, when they die they'll take some of their incorporated carbon down to the sea floor. Along the way, microbes are going to be decomposing it. They use oxygen to do that. If there's enough algae (and this sounds like there is) what that means is that all the fish and everything else that needs oxygen dies in that whole zone. It's like the dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico.

This is major Not Good.

Re:Warmer water leads to . . . by gandhi_2 · 2009-07-20 03:29 · Score: 4, Insightful

You are saying this cannot be a symptom of non-anthropogenic warming? I think you are tilting at windmills!

--
THL phish sticks
Re:Warmer water leads to . . . by daem0n1x · 2009-07-20 03:44 · Score: 1

There's not a lot of oxygen on the ocean floor.
Re:Warmer water leads to . . . by tnk1 · 2009-07-20 03:47 · Score: 1

Silly poster, all warming is anthropogenic. Al Gore said so!
Re:Warmer water leads to . . . by martas · 2009-07-20 03:50 · Score: 1

i for one think it'd be a lot neater if there were fewer life forms on earth, and specifically in the oceans. seriously, wouldn't it be awesome if all the seas in the world were covered my a similar goo?

--
weinersmith
Re:Warmer water leads to . . . by hitnrunrambler · 2009-07-20 04:23 · Score: 1

There's not a lot of oxygen on the ocean floor.
I'm not sure exactly what you meant by pointing out that fact...
so I'm just going to assume you wanted to inspire a free-association session stemming from that statement. Here goes:
In deep ocean conditions there is very little oxygen near the ocean floor, in shallow water the environment should have abundant oxygen all the way down.
If you deprive a poor man and a rich man of all of their resources, they will be equally broke and unable to sustain their dependents.
If you deprive a oxygen poor environment and an oxygen rich environment of all of their resources, they will be equally dead zones and unable to sustain their dependents.
This will have a bad effect on something, somewhere; now, why is it there?
Re:Warmer water leads to . . . by TigerTime · 2009-07-20 05:19 · Score: 1

The difference is the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico takes up a huge area because of how shallow it is there, and does not have the deep ocean floor as compared to the Pacific. The hypoxic conditions can be much more readily diluted in the Pacific.
Re:Warmer water leads to . . . by Runaway1956 · 2009-07-20 09:59 · Score: 1

"One of the prime symptoms of anthropogenic warming is"
FFS, dude, anthropogenic warming is a damned THEORY. And, here you have laws already written in stone. You might have got away with that shit had you said "global warming". The globe is warming, but the idea that man is responsible for that warming is about 30% theory, 35% speculation, and 35% political manipulation.

--
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
Re:Warmer water leads to . . . by mambodog · 2009-07-20 12:06 · Score: 1

Bury your head some more, eventually you might get to China.
Re:Warmer water leads to . . . by Runaway1956 · 2009-07-20 12:31 · Score: 1

OK - you explain why the earth has experienced extremely warm and extremely cold global climates in the past, even before mankind walked the earth. Then, you explain PRECISELY how today's global warming is different than any other climate changes from the past. I mean, PRECISELY, detailing differences between prior events, and today's events.
Problem is, you don't understand what happened eons ago, nor do you understand what is happening today. The current use of fossil fuels is a handy scape goat today - much as witchcraft was a handy scapegoat for events that people didn't understand hundreds of years ago.
My head isn't buried along with a huge flock of ostriches, my friend.

--
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br

Ben Elton : God's phlegm by chthon · 2009-07-20 03:07 · Score: 1

Read 'Stark'

Re:Are you still looking for oxygen? Look at the H by BlackSnake112 · 2009-07-20 03:43 · Score: 1

You left out lolcats...

The real question should be why is it there? by WindBourne · 2009-07-20 03:44 · Score: 2, Interesting

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

--
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.

Re:The real question should be why is it there? by Kreigaffe · 2009-07-20 04:20 · Score: 4, Insightful

I think it's a bit much to say these do not happen at the poles. We simply haven't encountered one yet. Algae do live in cold water, the question's just why are there so many all of a sudden? This area of the ocean is pretty rich in marine life normally, though the water is cold. There's a ton of fishing and even a show about crabbing in the general area, and colder waters (especially where they mix with warm water) are incredibly rich in nutrients (though I don't know enough offhand to say this is one of those areas, it.. prroooobbably is, or is close to one).
Algal blooms in the gulf and off the west coast tend to be caused by runoff from agricultural waters rich in fertilizers. I doubt there's much of that so far north, but there may have been some nutrient-stirring or even -releasing during the recent earthquakes up there? That's a total stab in the dark. I'm not a scientist or even an amateur in this field, but I do know that shaking water can stir stuff up from the bottom.
though looking at wikipedia.. this has happened before, at least near this area. Down near the bottom there's a picture of a bloom from 1998 in the Bering Sea (the rich sea area I was talkin about) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algal_bloom
This might really be more a case of people unfamiliar with a phenomenon blowing it way out of proportion because they don't know that it's happened before. The original article did mention there was concern it was an oil spill, and that quite often there's investigations into strange things in the area that are thought to be oil spills but rarely turn out to actually be so... so at this point I'm thinking this has happened before, if maybe not quite on this scale, but it just wasn't picked up widely by news organizations so you and I never knew about it.

--
... still waiting for this free-as-in-beer free beer I keep hearing about. :|
Re:The real question should be why is it there? by coolsnowmen · 2009-07-20 07:44 · Score: 1

I think it's a bit much to say these do not happen at the poles. We simply haven't encountered one yet.
If that statement was logically sound, couldn't you use it to refute any negative 'fact'?
Simple statement: People can't fly
Your response: Don't say that, we just haven't found any people who can do that YET
Simple statement: People can't drink a gallon of arsenic laced with Hydrofloric acid.
Your response: Don't say that, we just haven't found any people who can do that YET
Re:The real question should be why is it there? by migla · 2009-07-20 07:48 · Score: 1

Considering how drivers over here are surprised by icy roads in the winter, every winter, leading to numerous crashes come first snow, I'm inclined to believe your theory about this news.

--
Some of my favourite people are from th US; Vonnegut, Chomsky, Bill Hicks.
Re:The real question should be why is it there? by WindBourne · 2009-07-20 09:30 · Score: 1

There is a crapload of life there. But, so far, the only algae blooms that are seen is when something feeds it. Alaska and western is not dumping much in way of fertilizers, so what is feeding it.

You should examine your total lack of logic. Heck, you might even look at some of somebodies past posts before trying to put ppl down like a coward.

--
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Re:The real question should be why is it there? by WindBourne · 2009-07-20 09:32 · Score: 1

The gist of my post was that something fed it to get it to bloom. It is possible that it does occur and we just were not looking for it, but I would still want to examine other possibilities.

--
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Re:The real question should be why is it there? by Kreigaffe · 2009-07-20 09:41 · Score: 1

Well sure, obviously.. I'm just fairly used to people jumping on things like this and screaming about a man-caused global catastrophe, over what turns out to be a natural phenomenon we simply haven't observed yet. That seems to be the popular thing to do these days, but it makes about as much sense as, upon hearing of the discovery of a new species, shouting about how this species was never there before and therefor must be caused by humanity changing the environment.

--
... still waiting for this free-as-in-beer free beer I keep hearing about. :|
Re:The real question should be why is it there? by Kreigaffe · 2009-07-20 09:44 · Score: 1

That's stretching it a bit. We can explain why people can't fly, and why they can't drink a gallon of arsenic and hydrofluoric acid. I don't believe we could explain why an algal bloom like this couldn't happen. There's still quite a bit about the oceans and marine life that we don't really have a good handle on, so making definite statements like that just doesn't seem prudent.
Oh, and for the record.. people *can* fly, it just takes some sort of machinery to get it done ;)

--
... still waiting for this free-as-in-beer free beer I keep hearing about. :|
Re:The real question should be why is it there? by Runaway1956 · 2009-07-20 10:05 · Score: 1

"and colder waters (especially where they mix with warm water) are incredibly rich in nutrients (though I don't know enough offhand to say this is one of those areas, it.. prroooobbably is, or is close to one)."
While spending a year on Adak, I learned that the Bering Sea is supposed to be the coldest body of water on earth, and the Pacific Ocean is the warmest. Since then, I've questioned that assertion - but it's true enough to ensure very frequent severe storms in the Aleutians all the time. And, I mean, all the time. I don't think that we ever saw three days without a real storm marching across the island, and we certainly didn't see two days in a row without some sort of precipitation.
So, yes, you are right about the warm/cold water mixture.

--
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
Re:The real question should be why is it there? by coolsnowmen · 2009-07-21 01:56 · Score: 1

I have now, in my head, reworded a counter argument to myself and convinced myself that you are more right.
E.g. that is it more possible for there an algae bloom in cold water than it is to be impossible.

So, what is feeding this in such cold water?
Probably Nutrients, but from where? oceanic currents? earthquake volcanic activity? runoff?

The Dead Zone by rossdee · 2009-07-20 03:48 · Score: 1

That'd be good, I thought that was a good show. Will it be on the USA channel again?

Re:Alaskan Bob by Requiem18th · 2009-07-20 03:56 · Score: 2, Funny

Glad to see a smarter politician in charge for once :)

--
But... the future refused to change.

Air and Food by gx5000 · 2009-07-20 05:23 · Score: 1

It isn't exciting ??
We kept hearing a few years ago that this was exactly the kind of activity that
was responsible for much of the breathable air on our planet, plus food the the fishies...
And this isn't something to be marveled at ??? Cripes...

--
End of Line.

Wow, nice. by GameboyRMH · 2009-07-20 06:34 · Score: 4, Insightful

News: Previously unidentified life-form identified.

First response: How can we turn this thing into something useful, like gasoline?

Moderation: +5 Interesting.

Slashdot: News for greedheads, stuff you can sell.

--
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel

Re:Wow, nice. by MrMista_B · 2009-07-20 06:55 · Score: 1

What, you'd rather wait till it dies and creates another dead zone?
Slashdot: News for enviromental destruction loves, stuff you can mock.
Re:Wow, nice. by iggymanz · 2009-07-20 11:02 · Score: 1

what's the problem? it would be carbon-neutral biofuel.
Re:Wow, nice. by Jeff+DeMaagd · 2009-07-20 11:04 · Score: 1

Like the guy a couple posts up, I prefer it be gasoline rather than just another dead zone that kill fish and plants.
Re:Wow, nice. by GameboyRMH · 2009-07-21 01:07 · Score: 1

There's nothing wrong with it technically speaking, but it's sad that the first responses had to do with turning the algae into fuel, rather than things that had to do with the algae themselves. I'd wonder if algal blooms like this had happened before, and if not, why is this one here all the sudden?

--
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel

Not going to happen. by Guppy · 2009-07-20 07:13 · Score: 1, 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.

Not going to happen in the cold waters off the coast of Alaska. Think about it a little bit. Oxygen solubility is at near maximum in these waters, while decomposition rate decreases with lower temperatures.

send EATR after it... by Anonymous Coward · 2009-07-20 07:22 · Score: 1, Funny

they said it was a vegetarian, well heres their chance to prove it.

More info about HABs by proslack · 2009-07-20 08:04 · Score: 1

For more factual information about algal blooms, the Geological Survey has produced: http://74.125.113.132/search?q=cache:PYtvMJ0lJ3QJ:pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2006/3147/pdf/FS2006_3147.pdf+usgs+algal+bloom&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

--

Floating in the black seas of infinity without a paddle.

In the initial report.. by kuzb · 2009-07-20 09:12 · Score: 1

..they said birds were getting stuck in it, and all that was coming out the other side was feathers and bones - is this typical of algae to consume small mammals?

--
BeauHD. Worst editor since kdawson.

Re:In the initial report.. by Hemi+Roid · 2009-07-20 09:37 · Score: 1

Excuse me for being ignorant but I was taught that birds were not mammals they were more akin to dinosaurs than to mammals. Guess I need to go back to school and get a refresher course or have they changed the laws of physics so would I have to retake that also and does 1+1=3 now because of inflation. Next thing you know they are going to tell me that Columbus didn't discover the North American continent and the world is still flat.
Re:In the initial report.. by Pence128 · 2009-07-20 18:58 · Score: 1

I don't think biologists suddenly deciding that birds should be grouped with mammals would have anything to do with the laws of physics. The Norse colonized North America 450 years before Christopher Columbus was born, and Native Americans have been living there for a minimum of 11,000 years before that. Ancient Greece knew that the world was flat 6,000 years ago, and even took a good stab at determining it's circumference in about 250BC.

--
404: sig not found.

OMG! by HiggsBison · 2009-07-20 10:02 · Score: 1

Actually she's planning on flying overhead in a chopper and shooting it.

Oh my God! They killed Alaskan Bob! You Bastards!

--
My other car is a 1984 Nark Avenger.

Re:Timescape by m-kirkcaldie · 2009-07-20 16:12 · Score: 1

Yes, I did! I'm not working on tachyons, just studying nuclear resonance in indium antimonide. Hang on, something's gone funny with the rig, gotta go.

Does this have something to do with Sarah Palin? by Douglas+Goodall · 2009-07-20 17:16 · Score: 1

There has to be a way to link this to Sarah. I am counting on the smart slashdot users to post the elegant response and make my day :-)

Slashdot Mirror

Alaskan Blob Is an Algae Bloom

104 of 130 comments (clear)