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Canada|Chemist Identifies Mystery 'Blobs' Washing Up in Newfoundland
  
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/14/world/canada/
blobs-canada-newfoundland.html

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Chemist Identifies Mystery 'Blobs' Washing Up in Newfoundland

A researcher thinks he knows what has been coming ashore on miles of
beaches. Canada's environmental agency says it is still looking into
it.

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Six photos showing gray and white blobs amid rocks and sand.
The blobs were photographed on the southern shores of Newfoundland in
September by a local resident.Credit...David McGrath

By Alan Yuhas

Nov. 14, 2024

A chemist in Canada says he has identified "with a high degree of
confidence" the strange blobs that started washing up on
Newfoundland's shores months ago, although the Canadian authorities
said they were still looking into it.

Globs of the white sticky substance, which have a spongy interior and
range in size from a coin to a dinner plate, have been found for
miles along Placentia Bay since at least September. Canada's
environmental agency began an investigation, but it has not released
any conclusions.

Map locates Placentia Bay off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.
[gif]

Labrador Sea

NEWFOUNDLAND

AND LABRADOR

CANADA

NEWFOUNDLAND

Gulf of

St. Lawrence

MAINE

Placentia Bay

Atlantic Ocean

200 miles

By The New York Times

In the meantime, researchers at Memorial University of Newfoundland,
including the chemist, Chris Kozak, obtained samples and started
their own inquiries.

Dr. Kozak said that one of the first things he noticed was that the
blob had "a kind of petrochemical odor to it, kind of like if you
walk down the turpentine aisle of your hardware store."

At first he thought it might be polyurethane, given Newfoundland's
fishing industry and the material's use in insulating boats. But
polyurethane is less dense than water, and when it was tested, the
blob sank.

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