Environment

Alaska Blob Could Be Alive: Floating Arctic Goo

by Amy Judd | July 16, 2009 at 12:48 pm

10379 views | 37 Recommendations | 12 comments

A giant blob of oily biological material is making its way through Alaskan waters, and this floating arctic goo may in fact be alive. It is floating in the Arctic Ocean's Chukchi Sea in the Bering Strait.

"It's certainly biological," Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Terry Hasenauer told the newspaper. "It's definitely not an oil product of any kind. It has no characteristics of an oil, or a hazardous substance, for that matter."

No one has ever seen anything like it, which is prompting some concern for local fisherman and residents. It looks pitch black against the white of the Arctic ice, and when it touches ice, it discolors and will hang off it because it is so sticky.

Some jellyfish and birds are getting caught up in the blob, which is sticky and stinky. It is also hairy

"It's definitely, by the smell and the makeup of it, it's some sort of naturally occurring organic or otherwise marine organism," added Hasenauer.

Results from the samples collected should be back sometime next week.

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eastvanray

at 14:12 on July 16th, 2009

I want some!

sara star

at 15:34 on July 16th, 2009

Does it have a brain?

Paschen

at 18:08 on July 16th, 2009

Hum, I would not be to enthusiastic about it yet, It could be any thing at this point and could be very harmful for mammals.

Interesting though and I would like to have some for the lab so we could find out what it is and how it came to be as is now.

marianmo

at 19:21 on July 16th, 2009

an interesting video, has anyone tried to get a sample of this thing to find out its composition etc?

Nostradamaus (not verified)

at 20:28 on July 16th, 2009

Maybe it is some kind of ancient organism that was trapped in the ice. Now that the ice has melted, it is free... and hungry!

Richwiand (not verified)

at 10:29 on July 17th, 2009

Good thought.

Explorer (not verified)

at 20:54 on July 16th, 2009

It's algae http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/867160.html

david d. davidsson (not verified)

at 07:05 on July 17th, 2009

it's swamp gas

kate

at 09:32 on July 17th, 2009

Here is another unidentified living goo, this one found in a NC sewer

http://www.rantrave.com/Rave/Unknown-Life-Form-In-North-Carolina.aspx

Solidus Octothorp (not verified)

at 17:53 on July 17th, 2009

A sticky, stinky and hairy blob?

It's Sarah Palin's ethics!

158

at 18:15 on July 17th, 2009

very strange

Its Alive! (not verified)

at 16:51 on July 20th, 2009

It is algae. Just plain, nearly harmless to humans, algae. There are however, some marine animals that are getting caught because it is so sticky. The algae is black, which is fairly uncommon, and the reason why there was a large amount of theorys about it. The fact that it is so sticky is also a contributing factor.