The blob was the name given to a large black

algal Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular mi ...

bloom that was first spotted floating in the Chukchi Sea between the

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

n cities of Wainwright and

Utqiaġvik Utqiagvik ( ik, Utqiaġvik; , , formerly known as Barrow ()) is the borough seat and largest city of the North Slope Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Located north of the Arctic Circle, it is one of the northernmost cities and towns in the ...

in July 2009.

Discovery and location

The mass was first discovered by a civilian boat from Wainwright, and was reported to the U.S. Coast Guard for concerns that it could have been an oil spill. Analysis of samples taken by the

North Slope Borough The North Slope Borough is the northernmost borough in the US state of Alaska and thus, the northernmost county or equivalent of the United States as a whole. As of the 2020 census, the population was 11,031. The borough seat and largest city i ...

government and sent to a lab in Anchorage determined that it was a type of marine alga. The mass was discovered floating in the Chukchi Sea, a shallow stretch of the Arctic Ocean that spans the distance between western Alaska and the northeastern coasts of

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. Typical algae blooms are common in similar areas, shallow waters where light can penetrate to the sea bed. However, locals reported that there was no recollection in any communities in the area of any sort of mass like it.

Appearance

One strand of the mass was estimated to be 12 to 15 miles long. It was frequently described by those who saw it as 'hairy' or 'stringy', with scientific analysis explaining it as a type of filamentous alga. It was also reported to have a distinct odor. Though toxicity tests on the organism have yet to be conducted, concern is minimal as the area is not host to commercial seafood production, though locals do fish and hunt there. The algae are noted for their color, which is black. This is considered to be unusual for marine algae, which are typically shades of green or red. Several hypotheses have been put forth about the cause of this color. Terry Whitledge, director of the Institute of Marine Science at the

University of Alaska Fairbanks The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF or Alaska) is a public land-grant research university in College, Alaska, a suburb of Fairbanks. It is the flagship campus of the University of Alaska system. UAF was established in 1917 and opened for c ...

postulated that it could be due to the algae having undergone some level of decomposition.

References

Chukchi Sea Algal blooms {{DEFAULTSORT:Blob