Bizarre orange goo invades Alaskan village; leaves experts baffled
By Michael Sheridan
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Sunday, August 7th 2011, 9:51 AM
A massive patch of bright orange material washed up on the Alaskan coast, and has scientists baffled.
The substance, which experts don't believe is man-made, could possibly be algae, but a kind no one has seen before.
"There doesn't appear to be any evidence of a release of oil or hazardous substances at this time, but we're continuing to investigate and trying to get lab determinations on what exactly the material is," Emanuel Hignutt, analytical chemistry manager for Alaska's Environmental Health Laboratory told CNN.
"What it is - an algal bloom, or something inorganic - that's what we're working to get some more information on," he said.
Samples of the mystery matter were collected in canning jars and sent to a lab in Anchorage for analysis.
The gooey substance was first reported last week in the Alaskan village of Kivalina. The light-weight material later appeared in places further inland, including on some roofs, thanks to strong winds.
The substance has since left the shore, but remains peppered along the land where it dried.
"At this point it's a mystery," Hignutt said.
The orange material was also found some two miles away at a pumping station on the Wulik River. There was also a report some 150 miles away that the Buckland River was not its normal color, and had an orange color to the water.
Since the substance was unknown, city officials cautioned residents to keep children away from the orange goo and for residents to boil their water before drinking it.
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