They are slimy on the outside, firm and fluffy on the inside and surprisingly flammable. In recent months, they have been washing up on Newfoundland beaches.
The depths of the Atlantic have long held mysteries, but the mystery of mysterious white “bubbles” spotted off the coast of an eastern Canadian province has puzzled residents and marine scientists alike.
Wide attention was first drawn to the bubbles by a post on the Newfoundland and Labrador Beaches Facebook group, a 40,000-member page devoted mostly to sea glass collecting. A man named Philip Grace uploaded an image of a pale, gooey mass, which he compared to the flour used to make it. We all love a Newfoundland roast.
Grace's post about blobs “ranges from a dinner plate to a dooney,” she said. [the Canadian two-dollar coin]”, sparked a frenzy of possible explanations – paraffin wax, sea sponges, mold and ambergris – none of which held up to closer scrutiny.
Patrick's Cove resident Dave McGrath was on the beach when he saw “hundreds, just hundreds” scattered on the sand.
“They're like a cake before you flip it, when it has those hollow little bubbles. I poked a couple with a stick and they were fluffy and firm inside,” he said. “I've lived here 67 years and I've never seen anything like this.
“They sent the Coast Guard and I asked them how bad it was. They told me 46 km [28 miles] “There's this stuff scattered all over the beach, I don't know what it is,” McGrath said. “Is it toxic? Is it safe for people to touch?”
The gooey shapes aren't the first bubbles to excite locals. In 2001, residents discovered the Fortune Bay “plopster”. The sea monster washed ashore – a ragged and oozing white mass. However, a few months later, researchers at Memorial University of Newfoundland concluded that it was part of a decomposed sperm whale carcass.
These new blobs do not appear to be connected to whales, although commenters on the Beachcombers group have suggested they are “whale boogers”, “whale semen” or “whale vomit” – all of which have been ruled out.
McGrath speculated that the material could be discharged from ships traveling to the Come By Chance refinery, 80 km north of Patrick's Cove.
Federal scientists were also on the case, but made few leads.
So far, they know more about what it isn't than what it is. It is not a petroleum hydrocarbon, petroleum lubricant or biofuel. Full battery tests can take months.
“An answer would be nice. “It's not often you find something that trips up people who know this place and these waters,” McGrath said.
Until then, one local resident has one (perhaps Dowton-inspired) piece of advice for those curious about what the bubble might be: “Fry it, put some molasses on it, and let us know how it goes.”
