Recently, white spots appeared on Newfoundland beaches, sparking an investigation by Canadian officials.
Resident Stan Tobin described them as fluffy — “like someone tried to bake bread and did a terrible job” — with an odor reminiscent of vegetable oil.
In early September, beachgoers on Canada’s southern tip began reporting the strange substance.
The BBC has contacted officials in Ottawa for comment but has not yet received a response.
Photos of the substance began appearing in beach bum groups online, sparking speculation that it could be fungus or mold, palm oil, paraffin or even ambergris, a rare and valuable substance produced by whales and used in the perfume industry. material of value.
One poster suggested it looked like dough used to make “Toutons” – a regional dish usually fried in lard.
Spokesperson for Environment and Climate Change Canada Tell The Globe and Mail This substance is not a petroleum hydrocarbon, petroleum lubricant, biofuel or biodiesel.
A marine ecologist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada told the newspaper it was not a sponge and did not contain any biological material.
The spots are found along Placentia Bay on the southeastern coast of Newfoundland.
Mr Tobin is a local environmentalist who lives in Ship Cove, a small village on the bay, where he often walks on the beach.
He discovered the mysterious blobs one day last month and initially thought it looked like Styrofoam.
He said he has since encountered “hundreds and hundreds of spheres — big ones, small ones,” most of them about 6 inches (15 centimeters) in diameter.
But when Tobin called the Canadian Coast Guard to report the findings, he was told this had been ruled out as the basis for the substance.
“Someone or someone knows where it came from and how it got there,” Mr Tobin said. “And it’s very clear that it shouldn’t be here.”
