Giant Mystery Blob Puzzles Scientists
A huge oily slick floating a half mile off the coast of Wainwright, Alaska has scientists puzzled. Preliminary tests show the goo is algae and not petroleum, as originally feared. Yet, scientists still don’t know what type of algae it is or where it came from. They also don’t know if the goo presents a danger to humans, fish, or other sea life.
“We’re still at the formative stages of looking at this and the practical issues, like what is it and what caused it,” said Raymond RaLonde, aquaculture specialist at the Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program at the University of Alaska in Anchorage.
The blob was first discovered by indigenous subsistence hunters on July 10. The Coast Guard gathered samples and brought them back to Anchorage for analysis. When scientists observed the samples under a microscope, they were surprised to find the goo was made of algae and not oil.
The Coast Guard estimates the blob’s size at 13 miles long by a quarter of a mile. The goo is broken up into clumps and is constantly changing shape. “When we made the determination that it wasn’t an oil and was some sort of other marine organism, people were shocked," said Coast Guard Petty Officer Terry Hasenauer. “The Coast Guard and other environmental agencies and the locals all said they hadn’t seen anything quite like that before.”
A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held in Yosemite Valley today to commemorate the arrival of four hybrid electric/diesel tractors that will be used in the popular Yosemite Valley Floor Tours.