# Does anybody know what this is? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 4, 2007, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-what-this-is/390792 "2007-02-04T16:38:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![zeno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zeno/32/15040_2.png) [@zeno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zeno)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-what-this-is/390792/1 "2007-02-04T16:38:03Z")
[youtube. I won’t try to explain.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6JLzOHJzbU) ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-what-this-is/390792/2 "2007-02-04T16:49:59Z")
Looks to me like a rising tide that had a sheet of ice on top of it. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-what-this-is/390792/3 "2007-02-04T16:50:43Z")
That was really weird! My first thought was an influx of very cold fresh water on top of salt water being pushed by wave action into very cold air and freezing quickly, but there are non-frozen puddles on the ground, so I got nothin’… Pretty cool looking, though, and I’d be standing around gawping too! ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-what-this-is/390792/4 "2007-02-04T16:58:07Z")
I’d go with ice, too. But, sad to say, my first thought, before I saw how bundled up everybody is, was that it was the same kind of scum we saw at Niagara Falls in September, 1998, the last time we were there. Below the falls what appeared to be either soap suds or massive clots of algae or some other scum was basically clogging the river. Stunk, too. And the mist that collects on the cars near there was all gooey. The YouTube picture didn’t seem to show any evidence of a covering on the water, just bunched up at the shoreline, so I can’t feature it being soap or some other sudsy material. Wonder what it tastes like… ---
**Author:** ![brossa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brossa/32/3040_2.png) [@brossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brossa)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-what-this-is/390792/5 "2007-02-04T17:11:26Z")
It looks to me like friable surface ice getting plowed up on the shore by moving water. I don’t know what body of water that is - a bay, a lake, or what - but if the water has a layer of rotten ice and slush floating in it, and the water is moving from in front of the camera to behind the camera, then the leading edge of land/pier will scrape off the ice. It could be that the tide is coming in (or out), or that river ice has weakened to the point of breaking up and going out, or that wind on a lake is pushing the ice pack in that direction. I don’t think that there is any flash-freezing going on. ---
**Author:** ![brossa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brossa/32/3040_2.png) [@brossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brossa)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-what-this-is/390792/6 "2007-02-04T17:21:14Z")
I missed my edit cutoff, but here’s a link of the process I’m talking about: [ice going out.](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7899891367988274758&q=ice+going+out&hl=en) ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-what-this-is/390792/7 "2007-02-04T17:23:12Z")
Not so spectacular, but this video has a better label: [Sea Ice On Shore In Grise Fiord](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpTQMUneubs) > [@](#): > > It is spring time in Grise Fiord in 2006. The sea ice has been pushed up by strong currents, and has reached right up to the side of the road. ---
**Author:** ![Scruloose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@Scruloose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruloose)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-what-this-is/390792/8 "2007-02-04T17:24:12Z")
The location is [Miles Cove, Newfoundland, CA.](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=miles+cove,+NF&ie=UTF8&z=7&ll=49.63562,-55.829773&spn=3.792143,13.886719&om=1) A quick check of the tides in that area shows a tidal range of 1-2m. Not all that spectacular, especially when you consider the tidal ranges in the nearby Bay of Fundy region. Fascinating video. I’m guessing wind and tide related as well, but that’s as far as I’m guessing at this point. There may be much more to it than that. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-what-this-is/390792/9 "2007-02-04T18:06:52Z")
After being deposited in the Arctic ice in 1958, the Blob had spent that succeeding five decades exploring and manipulating its own DNA to be able to deal with the cold that entrapped it. In the fall of 2006, with the rise in Arctic temperatures reducing the size of the ice fields, the Blob was able to free itself from its -17° C prison and slip into the relative warmth of the -1° C sea where it has been slowly making its way down past Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) looking for human habitations. Finally, it has made its way onto the Northeast coast of Newfoundland, coming ashore at the tiny hamlet of Miles Cove. > [@](#): > > **Lieutenant Dave** : At least we’ve got it stopped. > **Steve Andrews** : Yeah, as long as the Arctic stays cold. ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-what-this-is/390792/10 "2007-02-04T18:37:39Z")
Of COURSE, **Tom!** I shoulda figured that out myself. So the Blob is back, eh?.. :dubious: Pass the salt!