Sea-snot "blizzard" in Gulf

[kpete]

"Sea Snot" Explosion Caused by Gulf Oil Spill?
Marine "snowstorm" possibly crippled base of Gulf of Mexico food chain.


Christine Dell'Amore

National Geographic News

Published September 23, 2010

SPECIAL SERIES | DEEP IMPACT
Deciphering the unseen, underwater effects of the Gulf oil spill.

The Gulf of Mexico oil spill sparked an explosion of sticky clumps of organic matter that scientists call sea snot, according to ongoing research.

The boom likely precipitated a (map) waters, researchers say. And as the clumps sank, they may have temporarily wiped out the base of the food chain in the spill region by scouring all small life from the water column.

In the weeks after the April 20 Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion, scientists surveying the surface near the drill site spotted relatively huge particles—several centimeters across—of sea snot.

These particularly slimy flakes of "marine snow" are made up of tiny dead and living organic matter, according to Uta Passow, a biological oceanographer at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

MORE:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/09/100916-sea-snot-gulf-bp-oil-spill-marine-snow-science-environment/

[Odin2005]

1. EWWWW!!!

That is NASTY! :puke:

[Jeffersons Ghost]

2. K&R

[FSogol]

3. Gesundheit!

:shrug:

[L0oniX]

4. Breakfast is served!

[Canuckistanian]

5. I've heard of "rock snot"

Which is an invasion of foreign algae in streams - an invader.

Is this the same thing? An invasive species taking advantage of a distressed ecosystem?

[eppur_se_muova]

6. some background info at links ...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=7161279&mesg_id=7161489