Alaskan Blob Is an Algae Bloom 130
Bryan Gividen writes "Time.com is running a story on the previously unidentified blob floating off of the coast of Alaska. The article states that the blob is an algae bloom — far less sinister (or exciting) than any The Thing or The Blob comparison that was jokingly made. From the article: '"It's sort of like a swimming pool that hasn't been cleaned in a while." The blob, Konar said, is a microalgae made up of 'billions and billions of individuals.'"
Re:Great. Now let's find out ... (Score:5, Insightful)
When algal blooms die off, oxygen is used to decompose the algae which creates hypoxic conditions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_zone_(ecology) [wikipedia.org]
Ofcourse I didn't RTFA... maybe this isn't a harmfull kind.
Perhaps a small antidote to global warming? (Score:2, Insightful)
Because when these die most will fall to the bottom of the deep ocean and get buried taking their carbon with them. Perhaps millions of years from now this bloom WILL be back as oil! :)
Far less sinister? (Score:4, Insightful)
How do we know? Maybe The Blob was just a really angry algae bloom? Those Deadliest Catch guys better not piss this one off!
Re:Alaskan Bob (Score:0, Insightful)
Alaskan Blob to replace Sarah Palin.
News at eleven. </satire>
Re:Warmer water leads to . . . (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:The real question should be why is it there? (Score:5, Insightful)
I think it's a bit much to say these do not happen at the poles. We simply haven't encountered one yet. Algae do live in cold water, the question's just why are there so many all of a sudden? This area of the ocean is pretty rich in marine life normally, though the water is cold. There's a ton of fishing and even a show about crabbing in the general area, and colder waters (especially where they mix with warm water) are incredibly rich in nutrients (though I don't know enough offhand to say this is one of those areas, it.. prroooobbably is, or is close to one).
Algal blooms in the gulf and off the west coast tend to be caused by runoff from agricultural waters rich in fertilizers. I doubt there's much of that so far north, but there may have been some nutrient-stirring or even -releasing during the recent earthquakes up there? That's a total stab in the dark. I'm not a scientist or even an amateur in this field, but I do know that shaking water can stir stuff up from the bottom.
though looking at wikipedia.. this has happened before, at least near this area. Down near the bottom there's a picture of a bloom from 1998 in the Bering Sea (the rich sea area I was talkin about) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algal_bloom [wikipedia.org]
This might really be more a case of people unfamiliar with a phenomenon blowing it way out of proportion because they don't know that it's happened before. The original article did mention there was concern it was an oil spill, and that quite often there's investigations into strange things in the area that are thought to be oil spills but rarely turn out to actually be so... so at this point I'm thinking this has happened before, if maybe not quite on this scale, but it just wasn't picked up widely by news organizations so you and I never knew about it.
Wow, nice. (Score:5, Insightful)
First response: How can we turn this thing into something useful, like gasoline?
Moderation: +5 Interesting.
Slashdot: News for greedheads, stuff you can sell.
Not going to happen. (Score:2, Insightful)
Till it dies off .. then we might get another dead zone.
When algal blooms die off, oxygen is used to decompose the algae which creates hypoxic conditions.
Not going to happen in the cold waters off the coast of Alaska. Think about it a little bit. Oxygen solubility is at near maximum in these waters, while decomposition rate decreases with lower temperatures.