Stay Out of the Water

[stop the bleeding]

Several Manatee County beaches are off limits as crews investigate an unknown substance in the water.

~snip~

According to Bay News 9's partner paper, The Herald, it's a cloudy, oily substance with the consistency of Vaseline. Coast Guard crews are helping collect water samples for testing.

Holmes Beach Mayor Carol Whitmore said when she touched the substance it gave her a burning sensation.



http://baynews9.com/content/36/2006/8/23/176813.html?title=Stay%20out%20of%20the%20water


weird

[DoYouEverWonder]

1. Sounds like a some kind of jelly fish

I got into a school of them once that you couldn't see. It was a nasty experience to say the least.

[MGKrebs]

2. It's all those Chap-Stiks they've been confiscating.

The contractor hired to dispose of them (coughHalliburton?cough) must have just dumped them over the side of a boat.

[orleans]

3. a burning jelly substance? ew... n/t

[mom cat]

4. Oceans in Peril -A chemical Imbalance

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/oceans/la-me-ocean3aug03,0,3589668.story

Just in case you missed this series.

[Barrett808]

7. Yes, this reminds me of the "Rise of Slime" installment

When the oceans are dead in a few years, humanity won't be far behind.

[Ian David]

5. I know what it is...

[Matariki]

6. Doesn't anyone watch horror movies?

you NEVER NEVER NEVER touch the mysterious substance. it probably comes from outer-space and will breed under your skin and turn you into a hideous flesh-eating mutant. So much for the mayor of Holmes Beach.

[LostinVA]

8. Sea lice give you a burning sensation

I wonder if there's just something icky in the water with the sea lice.

[readmoreoften]

11. SEA LICE???!!! That's the grossest think I've ever heard. /nt

[MazeRat7]

17. Agreed... I would have been much happier not knowing about that. (n/t)

[retread]

9. It's the slime left after Jeb takes a short dip. n/t

[dipsydoodle]

10. Proably just some sort of phosphorus jelly

Lebanese children are not supposed to worry about it so why should anyone else.

[Anakin Skywalker]

12. Gasp! Maybe They Is

Terraarist attacks! Aaaaargh! Scream and run away!

[Ron Green]

13. Florida again. I'm keepin' track.

[LeftyMom]

14. There's just one explanation

The goo from Katherine Harris' diphragm wound up in a storm drain and found it's way to the ocean.

:puke: :scared:

[outofbounds]

15. Ok

you explained red tide, but what about this jelly goo!
:puke:

[CAG]

16. Limbo's anal cyst must have ruptured!!! nt

[K8-EEE]

21. EWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!

Gross!! Thanks for sending me to bed with THAT image, blech.

[goforit]

18. Humanity, how the hell will people survive.

[Kailassa]

19. I remember one "scientist" was suggesting

dropping styrofoam all over the oceans to reflect sunlight and reverse global warming.

But I'd presume nobody would be idiotic enough to actually experiment with doing that,
or with coating the ocean with a reflective oil to do the same thing.

[flvegan]

20. Beaches reopened (explanation...sort of)

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060823/BREAKING02/60823005&sh_start=1

MANATEE COUNTY — A mysterious substance that prompted the closure of Anna Maria beaches early this morning has disappeared, but murky water and dead fish remain.

Beaches were closed Thursday morning while officials investigated, but were re-opened about 10 a.m. Some beaches were spotted with dead slugs that washed ashore and secreted a purplish dye.

Lab samples of an oil-like substance came back clean, so the beaches were reopened, said Charlie Hunsicker, Manatee County director of conservation lands management.

The sludge, which Hunsicker called “pretty heavy duty” and observers described as Vaseline-like, was found from Manatee Beach south to Coquina Beach.

more at above link