 "What are the mysterious white blobs washing up on Canadian shores?")
Mysterious white blobs are washing up on the shores of Canada – and no one is sure quite what they are.
The blobs, which range from the size of a small coin to a dinner plate, are slimy, spongy and combustible.
The blobs have baffled scientists and Canadian authorities who are now investigating the matter.
But what do we know about the blobs?
Let’s take a closer look:
According to BBC, the blobs were first seen on Newfoundland’s southeast coast – along the shores of Placentia Bay.
Local Stan Tobin, an environmentalist, described them as if “like someone had tried to bake bread and done a lousy job.”
Tobin who lives in the small village on the bay, found the blobs in September.
To his eyes, they looked like Styrofoam.
He said he’s found “hundreds and hundreds of globs - big globs, little globs” – most of them around 15 centimetres in diameter.
The Beachcombers of Newfoundland and Labrador Facebook group first drew widespread attention to the blobs, as per The Guardian.
The group, which has 40,000 members, mainly deals with sea glass.
One member, Philip Grace, put up the first image of the blob – which he likened to dough used to make the fried food toutons.
“Anyone know what these blobs are?” Grace asked on Facebook as per Globe and Mail. “They are like touton dough and all over the beach.”
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe blobs were covered in seaweed, sand and pebbles.
Slimy on the surface, they were spongy inside – and combustible.
They have been spotted on Shoal Cove Beach, Barasway Beach, Gooseberry Cove Beach, Southern Harbour, and Arnold’s Cove.
According to BBC, more and more pictures of the blob began surfacing online.
That resulted in feverish speculation about whether it was fungus, mold, palm oil, paraffin wax or ambergris – which comes from whales and used by the perfume industry.
“I wonder if it’s paraffin wax from a tanker that was cleaned out,” wrote Roy Chappell as per Globe and Mail.
Gloria Ross found the globs while looking for glass in Southern Harbour.
“It looked like a glob of glue,” she wrote to the newspaper. “I did poke it with a stick to see if it moves – was pretty solid, spongy-like.”
Dave McGrath, a resident of Patrick’s Cove in Newfoundland, told The Guardian he found “hundreds just hundreds of them” on the beach.
“They looked just like a pancake before you flip it over, when it has those dimpled little bubbles. I poked a couple with a stick and they were spongy and firm inside,” he said. “I’ve lived here for 67 years and I’ve never seen anything like this, never.
“They sent the Coast Guard over and I asked them how bad it was. They told me they had 46 kilometres of coastline littered with this stuff and had no idea what it was,” said McGrath. “Is it toxic? It is safe for people to touch?”
Officials told BBC while they have not determined what the substance is, preliminary testing shows it is “plant-based”.
A spokesperson for Environment and Climate Change Canada told the outlet more analysis is needed.
It said officials have visited the site thrice to examine the substance.
Tobin said he called the Coast Guard but was told it wasn’t Styrofoam.
“Somebody or somebodies know where this came from and how it got there,” Tobin told BBC. “And knows damn well it’s not supposed to be here.”
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