Bizarre 'blob' colony found in Lost Lagoon

[Still Waters]

A big blob of gooeyness is causing a lot of excitement in Stanley Park.

Known in Latin as Pectinatella magnifica, it’s OK if you call the bryozoan found in a pond near Lost Lagoon by its less formal name — a “chunk of goo.”

Or at least that’s how Kathleen Stormont of the Stanley Park Ecology Society describes the bryozoans that were discovered a couple of weeks ago in the biofiltration pond a few metres away from the causeway.

“It’s kind of like three-day-old Jello — a bit firm but gelatinous,” she says.

http://www.vancourier.com/news/fascinating-blob-colony-found-in-lost-lagoon-1.22151199

[jarjarbinks]

that's why i dont swim in natural water

[ChrLzs]

I don't want to be immodest.. but..  as soon as I saw 'blob' in the thread title, I bet on bryozoans!  When I used to work in the marine sciences, these and the closely related colonial ascidians were by far the most common thing brought to us by beachcombers asking 'what the heck is this stuff?'  A lot of them used to wash up on local beaches in South Australia.  It's worth doing a Google Image search on them, just to get an idea of the weird and wonderful forms and colors they can take.

[Daughter of the Nine Moons]

They kind of do look like alien brains

[khol]

The diversity/forms of life on this planet never cease to amaze me.

[switchopens]

KILL IT WITH FIRE!

[+Hammerclaw]

Looks like The Flood is forming a Gravemind.

[+OverSword]

Looks delicious

[ChrLzs]

13 hours ago, OverSword said:

Looks delicious

They are very rarely used for foods..  I once heard a marine biologist describe the texture/flavor as rather like sponge rubber, with a delicate hint of ammonia.

Ye-umm.