Giant mysterious blob found floating off Alaska coast
By Eoin O'Carroll | 07.17.09
Where is Steve McQueen when you need him?
In one of his first films, “The Blob,” the King of Cool helps defend a small Pennsylvania town against an amorphous extraterrestrial mass of man-eating protoplasm. At the end of the movie, he realizes that the creature cannot stand cold, so he and a police officer attack it with fire extinguishers, freezing it. The film closes with a shot of a military plane dropping the the Blob into the Arctic.
And now the creature has apparently thawed. According to the Anchorage Daily News, hunters on Alaska’s northern coast noticed a mass of thick, dark, viscous matter drifting in the ocean. Officials took a helicopter to investigate (see the video below) and followed a strand of the stuff that they estimated to be 12 to 15 miles long.
The following day, they collected samples. Preliminary results of the tests [PDF] conducted by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation found no hydrocarbon sheen. In other words, it’s not oil.
Instead, they found that the sample “primarily contained marine algae.” But it’s a kind of algae unlike anything anyone can recall seeing before.
The Anchorage Daily News quotes Gordon Brower of the North Slope Borough Planning Department:
The stuff is “gooey” and looks dark against the bright white ice floating in the Arctic Ocean, Brower said.
“It’s pitch black when it hits ice and it kind of discolors the ice and hangs off of it,” Brower said. He saw some jellyfish tangled up in the stuff, and someone turned in what was left of a dead goose — just bones and feathers — to the borough’s wildlife department.
“It kind of has an odor; I can’t describe it,” he said.
The Bright Green Blog phoned Ben Greene of the North Slope Borough Planning Department and asked him what he thought the goo was.
“As a scientist I cringe whenever anyone in the media calls it goo,” said Dr. Greene, who has a doctorate in genetics. (He admitted that he is probably fighting a losing battle on this front.)
Greene confirmed that the, er, substance is indeed a marine algal bloom of unknown species, and probably a natural occurrence, although he was reluctant to speculate on what, exactly, produced it.
“We have many scientific questions, but very few answers at this point.”
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2. Jerry Hall | 07.17.09
Why is it that you can’t simply report a story without insulting people, Sharha Palin sure didnt need to be remarked about it is disgusting that you cant simply report. This is why I will tell everyone I know not to support your web site or publications.
3. joe marras sr | 07.17.09
I find it annoying that I read this article to gain some understanding of an interesting scientific puzzle and not too far into it, the author takes a “cheap shot” at Sara Palin, quote “And it’s not Sarah Palin’s lip gloss” I like Sara to a point, and understand satire of her, except I would appreciate seeing you restrict your reporting of the Blob and other news stories more to the actual news and less to denigrating people you find an easy target. Otherwise, I like your stories, when they stick to the necessary facts.
5. Aulë | 07.17.09
I would speculate this to be algae mixed with a large amount of bacteria which operate on the hydrogen sulfide cycle. If I remember correctly, an episode of oceanic warming millions of years cause this type of bacteria to reproduce to a profound degree, emitting sulfide gas which caused a worldwide extinction event. If we are seeing this actually happening again, then this is a signal that humanity is now in very grave danger.
6. Don Pickard | 07.17.09
I liked the Palin Reference. It was funny. And yeah, new largescale algae growth doesn’t sound like necessarily a good thing… other than, maybe check it for oil content, and set up a biodiesel refinery up north.
7. Jacob | 07.17.09
Not very professional to attack Sarah Palin. Very much like a leftist fanatic website.
8. John | 07.17.09
Interesting article, but a definite cheap shot toward Sarah Palin. I’m not a huge fan of hers, but is there any need to wonder why she is so defensive toward the press? This stuff also lowers the prestige of the media in the eyes of readers. Stop it!
9. Wendy Hodina | 07.17.09
Really, what point does it serve to jab at Sarah Palin? It’s not even funny. After dropping the Monitor for awhile and now coming back to its new format, I think I’ll go back to the other news sources that I can trust….and that don’t have a blatant bias. Really, all I wanted to read about was something that was not political. Mrs. Eddy would not be pleased, shame on you.
10. Victoria Suominen | 07.18.09
Absurd. The climate was at least 1 degree celcius warmer 1000 years ago when the Norwegian vikings inhabited Iceland and sailed all the way to Canada. “Millions of years” of oceanic warming is pure nonsense. The last ice age was 10,000 years ago and, with mild cooling periods due to natural climatic flux, it has been gradually warming up ever since. Did you fail high school science or what, Aule?
11. Bill Nelson | 07.18.09
As a fan of Sarah Palin, I appreciated the the lip gloss reference. It was funny and not, in my opinion, negative. Sarah first brought up the topic of her lip gloss and has always been proud of the qualities it represents. I don’t understand how it could be seen as negative.
12. Irene | 07.18.09
I did not take offense to the saying that the Blob wasn’t Sarah Palin’s lip gloss. As is stated below, you do not publish any comments that you regard as obscene, defamatory, or intended to incite violence, then you obviously do NOT do it yourselves.
13. John C. | 07.18.09
You radical rightists are correct that the Palin jab was unnecessary–but this isn’t a leftist conspiracy. Slow down there!
Honestly, though, I ready the Christian Science Monitor because i can’t stomach Fox News and their left-bashing that panders to the under-educated right. I certainly don’t want to see its counterpart here.
14. James Keven | 07.18.09
So what exactly is your point with the Palin shot, O’Carroll ? Is that you thinking you are SNL material? Is this approach maybe the “web team” being “smart” and up to date? Because I am thinking most of us are so over the election year cheap shot parade. And I think most of us shutter a bit at the enormity of so many issues that face our society in this time period. Who edits your writing? In the wake of so much outpouring of appreciation for the honorable and respected Journalism career of Walter Cronkite… I mean, what is the legacy we are wanting to live up to here? I expect a lot more than below average reporting from the Christian Science Monitor. What do you and the “web team” expect of yourselves?
15. BB | 07.18.09
I find it funny that people have no idea what it is, but already attribute it to “global warming”. Environmentalists don’t even use that word anymore. They use “climate change”. Mainly because the earth has been cooling over the last 3 years. More scare tactic nonsense. Back in the 70’s and 80’s they were screaming bloody murder about an ice age coming soon. The earth has never been in a stagnant state. It has ALWAYS been changing. There is irrefutable evidence that the earth has had many ice ages. This proves my point that warming and cooling occur naturally on earth. So to get people all riled up over something that has occurred naturally for millions of years is nothing but a scam.
16. klm | 07.18.09
I think Sarah Palin is not qualified for national executive office (although that hasn’t stopped some people). My political views are well to the left of the Democratic Party. And I think the Sarah Palin wisecrack was sexist and unacceptable.
17. editorial | 07.18.09
The remark about Sarah Palin’s lip gloss has been removed. It wasn’t meant to be mean-spirited, but it certainly wasn’t germane to the subject of the blog.
18. Connie Williams | 07.18.09
We should remove this slime and destroy it.
It certainly cannot be beneficial to the oceans or ourselves.
19. BB | 07.18.09
John C-
According to the Pew Research Institute (a often times left leaning think tank) republicans are higher educated then democrats :)
20. Stephen Esperanz | 07.19.09
I think that it is shallow to look at one mild political jab in the ribs, from one article, from one author, and then make sweeping statements about the entire website and the general quality of the CS Monitor as a whole. Sure, bias is ultimately unavoidable in the human experience, and it may slip out here and there… but generally speaking, my experience with the Monitor has been significantly better than most major news sources out there. Take some perspective. You don’t raze your house when the kitchen door starts squeaking.
21. Edie Frederick | 07.19.09
Surely the Monitor has some scientific sources to query about this blob in further coverage, for historic or future perspectives. It is interesting, since we are all part of an evolving process on the earth.
As for the Palin comment, which was deleted before my reading, please know that I immediately leave any “news” source that mentions Palin or Bush, because the references are 99.9% certain to be a stale re-churning of what was not the real news to begin with.
Watching the tributes to the life and work of Walter Cronkite has been a wonderful reminder of standards in journalism, and even the chattiest and goffiest news anchors sobered up for the evening.
22. John Savard | 07.19.09
One thing that hasn’t been happening for millions of years is factories burning coal, belching out smoke in huge quantities. Carbon dioxide has an effect on the infrared radiation the Earth emits leading to it cooling off at night that is well known and understood. Yes, the Earth has natural cycles of warming and cooling, but how is that proof that human activity hasn’t reached - or, apparently, can’t possibly reach - the point where it can interfere in those cycles? Yes, the consequences of shutting down our energy use would be severe, but we have an alternative: nuclear power.
23. Coo | 07.19.09
Marine algal blooms are showing up everywhere. Some are harmful and killing marine life and making people sick. That is precisely why S.952 bill was just introduced into the US Senate. Check it out and show your support by writing your representatives.
25. Keith K | 07.19.09
“Journalism” today is a farce. Left or right leaning, it is based on entertainment value not news. Soundbites and blurbs are the rule.
We all need to expect and demand more real journalism.
26. Going Green | 07.20.09
I’m surprised at the sheer size of the blob. Wow. Pretty crazy.
Thanks for posting!
Jonathan
http://www.GreenJoyment.com
27. Ivich | 07.20.09
This is like that Korean film The Host. All we need is to come alive and gobble down people.
28. Ali Torkzadeh | 07.20.09
I do appreciate the humor on Sarah Palin and Joe Biden and all the rest of public figures who should be able to take any shot — cheap or expensive — because being able to “denigrate” our leaders with words and opinions is important. Joking about Sarah Palin’s lip gloss — what’s a big deal about that? Please take it easy. Getting so bent out of shape because of some passing humorous remark, now that’s what bothersome to me. Please have a beer and relax. Sarah Palin and other populist demagogues like her (remember George Bush and the trillions we’ll be paying to cover the mess he left behind? Remember Palin’s 16 ethics investigations?) have been taking and will continue to take their pound of flesh out of the naive American public. What you should be worried about is how do these glib “common folks” with little experience and questionable pasts continue to capture the imagination of so many Americans and even at times distress manage to steal elections. Now that’s something to get upset about.
29. Shiva Shankar Rudraraju | 07.20.09
ha ha… now over to the media to come up with all the weirdest speculations. Don’t be surprised if the wire picks it up, and the headlines read:
> “Alien leftover haunts the arctic”
> “Irradiated bacterial clones devouring the Alaskan waters”
> “Ocean 51: Secret military exercise gone out of control, Monster unleashed.”
30. Sam George | 07.20.09
This blob seems insignificant compared to what’s reported to be floating in the Pacific, the stew of trash, plastic and other stuff which reportedly now is the size of two USA’s. Humans are rapidly making the earth uninhabitable for themselves. Nature does not care whether human beings live on earth or not.
31. Sean | 07.20.09
Enough with the Sarah Palin mock outrage.
It was a minor joke about a minor person who LOST THE ELECTION for Republicans!
As a Republican I can forgive John McCain quite a bit, but Sarah Palin, although a nice enough person, is/was and I doubt will ever be ready for prime time.
Give it a rest and let’s all hope Mitt’s got enough guts for another run.
32. Kevin V | 07.20.09
I can’t find the Sarah Palin comment in the article since its been removed. I think that is unfortunate. By not being more critical of Palin since she came on to the national stage the media has been disappointingly unprofessional. The more jabs the better. Jabs will get people started thinking about the seriousness of it.
33. Larry | 07.20.09
Sfunny, I did not see or hear Palin’s name anywhere in this article or video.
What cheap shot is everyone refering to?
34. Dan Birdsall | 07.20.09
The Monitor once again reveals its anti-goo bias in an otherwise informative article about Sarah Palin. Why stoop to cheap digs about a clearly talented oceanic miasma by immediately comparing it to ‘The Blob,’ and making other unsavory associations? No wonder it’s sticking to remote Alaskan waters - perhaps the only place left in the world free of liberal media potshots about its ‘odor.’ Is ‘Eoin O’Carroll’ just another pseudonym of Al Gore? I wouldn’t be surprised, based on this post. Substance-ist insults like these have no place in mainstream journalism. For shame!
35. ErnestPayne | 07.20.09
Very interesting that it was found off Alaska and not mid ocean. As for the Palin joke some people need to lighten up. Please continue this level of reporting as I am unlikely to find it anywhere outside of Reuters, PBS, BBC, CBC, etc. If any further information becomes available please publish it. As for global warming read “climate wars” and “water wars” BTW it has not been 3 years of cooler temperatures and no they were not screaming ice age in the 50’s 60’s or 70’s. You are confusing weather with climate - please take some climatology courses.
36. Don Stephenson | 07.20.09
Wow, some of you RW’s need to lighten up. Your reading an artice on science with a little humor in it…oh wait, its either the same person posting or you all are a bunch of sheep. One little joke about Palin, and trust me, she put a lot of comedy out there in a short amount of time, and your ready to quit reading this blog? Oh, and you “all” said basically the same thing. How ironic.
37. Aulë | 07.20.09
Victoria,
Please excuse my typo. I meant a global warming event millions of years ago had most likely caused a mass extinction event due to hydrogen sulfide loving bacteria, that tend to thrive on warmer ocean temperatures.
The scientist should definitely check for the presence of sulfur bacteria in his sample.
Please see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permian%E2%80%93Triassic_extinction_event#Hydrogen_sulfide_emissions
39. kellie mitchell | 07.21.09
Sad. where has professionalism and intelligence in journalism gone?…Well THAT was a poor sentence–sorry; however, does everyone have to be a comedian? A bit of appropriate humor is ok at times, if it’s not just stoopid, but this is supposed to be reporting on world events. Also: who reported there was not any oil found therein? Ever notice how we receive so much of our “”fact-based” news reporting, e.g., sources say…(what sources?)…reports indicate…a survey has determined…a source close to the event said…..etc. tells us nothing. just like: we found that 47% of men prefer…..it gets your dishes 32% cleaner than before….this kind of journalizing was not that professional. and about sources? “I’m just saying. That’s all.” (guess which movie that came from? credit: The Code) ……the info that is being put out and crawling across the bottom of our other show…where does it really come from?there was NO oil in it?,Bah-humbug.
40. darrel armstrong | 07.21.09
The comment was truely out of line…
OK, maybe…maybe..the blob did kill some jellyfish and a goose, but it did nothing to earn such a disgusting comparison. Please reserve such comments for those that deserve them. Sarah Palid’s makeup is more like, well, the spew that came out of the Exxon Valdez. Totally inorganic and quite lethal to living things.
41. Cigars | 07.23.09
I have a hard time believing that the insignificant force of human existence is capable of harming the earth at all..
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1. David Heiser | 07.17.09
Headlines on boingboing.net, “Mystery blob devouring Alaska coastline”. What a hoot.