Home > Explore News > Mystery of Alaskan 'Goo' Rust Solved at Last | The Artful Amoeba, Scientific American Blog Network

Mystery of Alaskan 'Goo' Rust Solved at Last | The Artful Amoeba, Scientific American Blog Network

Published on: 02/29/2012

Last fall the small Alaskan coastal village of Kivalina was inundated by a mysterious orange 'goo'(click for photo). Locals and others suspected a toxic algal bloom (see here for image), or perhaps some sort of chemical release, or millions of microscopic 'crustacean eggs."

Yet just a month later the mystery substance was identified as none other than a plant-parasitic fungus called a rust - completely harmless to humans and aquatic life, and probably not bad plankton food. I covered this at length in my follow-up post. But the mystery remained: what plant disease epidemic had this rust come from? And to produce a bloom of spores that huge, how could no one have noticed?

via Mystery of Alaskan 'Goo' Rust Solved at Last | The Artful Amoeba, Scientific American Blog Network.

Explore Similar News

About NCCOS

NCCOS delivers ecosystem science solutions for stewardship of the nation’s ocean and coastal resources to sustain thriving coastal communities and economies.

Stay Connected

Sign up for our quarterly newsletter or view our archives.

Follow us on Social

Listen to our Podcast

Check our our new podcast "Coastal Conversations"