Alaskan Blob Is an Algae Bloom

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Alaskan Blob Is an Algae Bloom

Posted by timothy on Monday July 20, 2009 @02:11AM 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.'"

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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?
1. Re:Great. Now let's find out ... by LeoPercepied · 2009-07-20 02:18 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  It already works as oxygen generator...
2. 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.
3. 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.
  
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4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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'.
  
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7. 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.
  
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8. 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.
9. 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! :)
  
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  -Turkey
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?

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1. 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...
so... by gEvil+(beta) · 2009-07-20 02:19 · Score: 4, Funny

So, it is alive!

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This guy's the limit!
1. Re:so... by Caledfwlch · 2009-07-20 03:03 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Sponge Blob!
  
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  These views express my own personal opinions, not those of the other voices in my head
Ok, guys... by Anonymous Coward · 2009-07-20 02:20 · Score: 5, Funny

Whose turn was it to chlorine the ocean?
1. 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.
  
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  Evolution - Est. 4500000000 B.C. Don't piss in the gene pool.
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...
1. 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.
  
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2. 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."
  
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  Gentlemen! You can't fight in here, this is the war room!
Re:my question is... by FlyingSquidStudios · 2009-07-20 02:28 · Score: 4, Funny

Love.

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

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

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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.
1. Re:Whale Semen by gestalt_n_pepper · 2009-07-20 03:02 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Thar she blows!
  
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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!
1. 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.
  
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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.
1. 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!
  
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  THL phish sticks
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?

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1. 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.
  
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Re:Alaskan Bob by Requiem18th · 2009-07-20 03:56 · Score: 2, Funny

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

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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.

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