6/22/2002: Mystery balls from the ocean

Undertoad · 06-22-2002, 08:48 AM

This from fark yesterday; normally I avoid duplicating them but hey.

One of the nicest sections of the USA, in my opinion, is the coast off of New Hampshire and Maine. It's the east coast, but not quite the same kind of touristy as the rest of the coast, maybe because the summer season is short and the water cold so it doesn't attract the typical beach-goers.

But there was something else convincing people that the NH coast wasn't for swimming this week: mystery balls. Nobody could figure out what these things were, but they were washing up on a particular New Hampshire shore, numbering in the tens of thousands.

Marine biologists were confused, and local fishermen had seen nothing like it. Everyone was concerned. Is it plastic? Is it animal? Will the whales eat them and not be able to digest them, and die? Can we use them to scour our saucepans?

Finally they figured it out: it's a particular type of algae. The motion of the waves rolls it up into these balls.

06-22-2002, 08:48 AM	#1
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	6/22/2002: Mystery balls from the ocean This from fark yesterday; normally I avoid duplicating them but hey. One of the nicest sections of the USA, in my opinion, is the coast off of New Hampshire and Maine. It's the east coast, but not quite the same kind of touristy as the rest of the coast, maybe because the summer season is short and the water cold so it doesn't attract the typical beach-goers. But there was something else convincing people that the NH coast wasn't for swimming this week: mystery balls. Nobody could figure out what these things were, but they were washing up on a particular New Hampshire shore, numbering in the tens of thousands. Marine biologists were confused, and local fishermen had seen nothing like it. Everyone was concerned. Is it plastic? Is it animal? Will the whales eat them and not be able to digest them, and die? Can we use them to scour our saucepans? Finally they figured it out: it's a particular type of algae. The motion of the waves rolls it up into these balls.

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