Posted by Brian Myers | Published
Residents of Placentia Bay in Canada’s Newfoundland province have reported finding hundreds of mysterious white pants washed ashore. What these things are is currently unknown, but government authorities have issued a statement that they are not related to any biofuel or hydrocarbon emissions. Testing is ongoing, but results may take months.
Unknown Bridges
The white blobs first came to public attention in early September when members of a Facebook group called “Beachcombers of Newfoundland and Labrador” began posting photos of the strange objects online. The first one shared by a member had a detailed caption describing the blobs as ranging in size from a “dinner plate to a toonie (Canadian coin)” and similar in appearance to a Canadian dough called a touton.
The waxy appearance of these white bumps led some to the false conclusion that whales were to blame, with good reason. In the early 2000s, a large waxy blob washed ashore in the Great White North and was later identified as a highly decomposed whale. These large mammals can resemble giant lumps of wax when they decompose, but marine biologists have dismissed this explanation.
Scientists Have Disproved It
Scientists have identified ambergris, lubricant deposits, and paraffin wax in crude oil as the source of the white nodules. But local residents are scrambling for answers among a number of older community members who have lived in the area for decades and maintain that these things are a novelty.
The lack of answers from government officials has not stopped others from speculating about the source of these white bubbles. Steven Carr, who works as a professor of biology at Memorial University, told the media that he believes the source is a common item found in many grocery stores; Bisquick.
Mundane Possible
Carr told the story of getting a call from a volunteer cleaning up the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia. An anonymous source sent Carr a photo of an empty Bisquick bag that had washed up on the rocks. The powder was perfect and dry, which helped him form a theory.
Carr believes that a container carrying Bisquick fell off a shipping vessel and has been slowly drifting up the beach in the form of white blobs. He is currently busy experimenting with his theory when he has several bags of biscuit-dough powder weighed under the cold waters of the harbor. He told The Weather Network that he plans to check them every few days to see if his tests show any white blobs.
For now, coastal residents will have to wait until more tests are completed on the white blobs. But if Carr’s illegal biological research reveals something similar, we may be closer to understanding the truth than we realize. Until then, dozens of these mysterious shapes remain on the beaches.
Sources: New York Times
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