# Mysterious Blob in New Jersey Lagoon



## WarMachine (Mar 7, 2003)

I saw on the news yesterday that there was a mysterious blob in this lagoon in Jersey. Any of you heard of this or seen it. Here is a link to one of the stories about it. http://cbsnewyork.com/njnews/NJ--TheBlob-jn/resources_news_html

Is this thing weird or what?

MC


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## Manayunk Jake (Oct 3, 2001)

Greetings Master Caster!

Its definitely weird! Its been in the Philly news all week. The blob is supposed to be biological and not harmful, but smells "like a dead horse" according to one resident. Nobody will run their boat near it, let alone fish or swim near it. These folks are paying for waterfront property, but the DEP hasn't made any plans to get rid of this thing. Probably the result of raw sewage pumped from local houses.... wouldn't be suprprised if it grew back bigger than before!


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## cocoflea (Aug 1, 2002)

The story is also on the New York news channels and it's very scary stuff.


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## davehunt (Mar 27, 2003)

Looks like excess lawn fertilizer may be the culprit, here the story from todays cbs2ny web site.

http://cbsnewyork.com/njnews/NJ--TheBlob-jn/resources_news_html

Excess fertilizer yields lagoon bloom
Thursday August 21, 2003
LITTLE EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) Ocean County health officials have warned residents that using too much lawn fertilizer may give rise to algae-like blobs in area lagoons.
Robert J. Ingenito, the county's environmental health coordinator, said an algae bloom that developed in a Little Egg Harbor Township lagoon this month was probably created by water runoff containing excessive fertilizer.
The mass is considered unusual because algae blooms do not typically look like blobs. State tests confirmed the clear mass was algae.
It was also examined by environmental consultant John Zingis who was part of the team that partially removed the mass from the lagoon on Aug. 11.
Nutrient-rich water and low oxygen levels create favorable conditions for large algae blooms, said the county health department.
Algae needs light, carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus to grow. Nitrogen can come from other plants or fertilizer, but ``phosphorous comes directly from fertilizer,'' said.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)


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