A large blob of sticky biological material was floating north of the Bering Straight in July 2009. A U.S. Coast Guard officer said it was not an oil product, nor did it have characteristics of oil. It is not though to be dangerous. The organism has caused jellyfish and birds to get stuck in it. According to one account, the mysterious blog "has hairy strands on it" while other reports claim it has a strange smell.http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,533080,00.html?test=latestnews
On July 20, 2009, the results from the lab tests revealed that the Alaskan "mystery blob" was a type of "filamentous" marine algae, filamentous meaning stringy.http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,534084,00.html?test=latestnews
Featured Image
"Hairy" strands in mystery Alaska blog: Photo courtesy North Slope Borough
Mysterious Alaska blog floating on the water: Photo courtesy North Slope Borough
References
Fast Facts
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Floating in the Chukchi Sea between Wainwright and Barrow, Alaska
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Discovered in early July 2009
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Samples were collected for testing
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The mysterious black blob stretched about 12 miles long
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Has a distinctive odor
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Was determined to be a type of filamentous algae
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Algae is usually green, yellow or red
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The black color of the algae was likely because it was rotting
