------ Strange floating 'blob' found off Florida ------
SARASOTA, Fla. - Scientists say an underwater blob of
goo off the Florida Panhandle coast isn't oil, but
rather a mass of dead plankton, algae and bacteria.
The underwater mass of dead sea life, at least three
feet thick and spanning 2/3 of a mile off to the coast,
appears to be growing as microscopic algae and bacteria
get trapped in it and die, the Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-
Tribune reported Wednesday. Scientists investigating
whether oil from last year's Deepwater Horizon disaster
was a factor in the creation of the blob say tests so
far have found no sign of oil. "It seems to be a combi-
nation of algae and bacteria," David Hollander of the
University of South Florida said, describing the sub-
stance as toxic and "extraordinarily sticky." Research-
ers say they are not ruling out a possible connection
to the oil spill that gummed up that part of the gulf
for 30 to 40 days and pumped 186 million to 227 million
gallons of crude into the ocean. "We don't know all the
ramifications, the implications of a spill like this,"
Hollander said.
