Organic Mystery Goo Off Alaskan Coast

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the mysterious organic substance found floating in the Chukchi Sea off the Alaskan coast. Participants explore various theories regarding its origin, composition, and implications, with contributions ranging from humorous speculation to serious inquiries about its nature.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants describe the substance as a dark, shiny organic matter, with reports of it being "gooey," "gunky," and having "hairy strands."
  • Officials from the US Coast Guard state that the substance is not an oil product or hazardous, suggesting it is a naturally occurring marine organism.
  • One participant humorously speculates about the possibility of an alien life form being responsible for the goo.
  • Another participant jokingly attributes the substance to a personal incident involving bad beans.
  • There are suggestions that the substance resembles oil and inquiries about the presence of nearby seaweed.
  • A participant references a comment linking the goo to the fictional "Blob" from a 1950s B-movie, suggesting a humorous connection to global warming.
  • Recent reports indicate that the goo may be identified as algae, but questions remain about its unusual abundance in the area.
  • Local hunters and whalers express confusion and concern over the substance, noting it is unlike anything they have encountered before.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a range of theories and humorous takes on the substance, with no consensus reached regarding its exact nature or origin. Some believe it to be algae, while others propose more fantastical explanations.

Contextual Notes

The discussion highlights uncertainties regarding the substance's composition and the lack of definitive identification, as well as the varying interpretations of its implications.

tchitt
Hunters from the Alaskan coastal town of Wainwright first noticed the dark, shiny substance floating for miles in the icy Arctic waters of the Chukchi sea, according to reports in the Anchorage Daily News.

The odorous substance, which has been described variously as "gooey", "gunky" and "hairy" has been also been found of the coast of Barrow, 72 miles north east of Wainwright.

Samples of the huge "gobs of gunk" were taken on Friday by officials from the North Slope Borough, who flew out to Wainwright with the US Coast Guard to investigate. Jelly fish and a dead goose were found tangled up in strands of the substance.

The "goo", which is believed to be formed of organic matter, is reportedly floating in strands of up to 15-miles long.

The US Coast Guard told the Anchorage Daily News that the strange find is not an oil product or a hazardous substance of any kind.

"It's definitely, by the smell and make-up of it, some sort of naturally occurring organic or otherwise marine organism," said Petty Officer 1st Class Terry Hasenauer.

"In recent history I don't think we've seen anything like this," he added.
Gordon Brower of the North Slope Borough's planning department described what he had seen floating in the Arctic sea.

"From the air it looks brownish with some sheen, but when you get close and put it up on the ice and in the bucket, it's kind of blackish stuff and has hairy strands on it," he said.
The samples of the substance taken by the coast guard are being analysed in Anchorage, with results expected next week.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/ea...c-sea-full-of-huge-blobs-of-floating-goo.html

http://www.adn.com/2835/story/864687.html

Anyone else heard about this yet? Are we under attack from some alien life form? :o

Any theories as to what could explain this?

Edit: http://media.adn.com/smedia/2009/07/14/22/971-4557200.21870.original.standalone.prod_affiliate.7.jpg
 
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Look, it's up in Alaska, so we should be safe. Just keep it away from open fires and hope it drifts north. Start loading up on shampoo
 
Damn! Sorry, that was just me. I had some REALLY bad beans the other day...
 
tchitt said:
Anyone else heard about this yet? Are we under attack from some alien life form? :o

Do not touch...

spiderman3-venom.jpg
 
My first thought is that Sarah Palin flushed out her head.
 
Danger said:
My first thought is that Sarah Palin flushed out her head.

Hehe, The mystery matter looks like Oil at a glance. Wonder what it is. I presume there must be a abundance of seaweed nearby?
 
when powerful people are threatened by forgettable corpses, they often enlist the assistance of one of two people: the pig farmer... or the crabber.

What you see there is people-fed crab poop.
 
I found the answer in a comment on this article here...
http://www.rantrave.com/Rant/Alaska-Blob-The-Goo-Mystery-Deepens.aspx
lanismydog said:
It's The Blob from that 1950's B-Movie. Remember at the end when they flew it up to the North Pole and dropped it in the frozen tundra? Well, global warming has begun and it is pissed off at us from freezing it for 50 years. As soon as it gets to shore it is going to be one gaint rolling ball of goo that will kill us all. RUN! Run as a fast as you can but know that it will find you!
 
The latest word is that the goo is algae.

The goo fast became an Alaska mystery. And the new findings still leave questions unanswered: Why is there so much of it in a region where people say they’ve never seen anything quite like it?


Local hunters and whalers didn’t know what to make of it. The Coast Guard labeled the substance biological, but knew little else. The stuff had hairy strands in it and was tangled with jellyfish, said a borough official.


http://www.freep.com/article/20090717/NEWS07/90717052/Black-goo-afloat-off-Alaska-coast-identified-as-algae-

It certainly looks black in a bucket

http://juneauempire.com/stories/071609/sta_464473582.shtml
 
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