NEWPORT NEWS -- An unidentified floating object caused a bit of a stir on the Peninsula.
Some large green blobs were discovered in a lake at City Center in Newport News last week, and marine science officials were called out to investigate.
People working near the lake last week noticed the lumpy creature and some thought it was a Halloween prank. From there, speculation ran toward the blob being anything from a dead snake to an alien cocoon.
'We took a stick and poked at it and it was spongy and squishy. And that's kind of weird," said Charlie Schmuck.
The object concerned people so much that they called the Virginia Institute Of Marine Science about the unidentified floating object.
Scientists took a look and identified the creature as a fresh water bryozoan.
The algae feeders are common in salt water but fresh water species are rare, according to Dave Malmquist of VIMS.
The Newport News specimen was four feet in diameter, while the normal size is about half that large.
“They eat alga, they have little tentacles. It's a colony, so what they found was a very large colony of fresh water bryozoan. It's made of thousands of individual animals living together, filtering algae from the water," said Malmquist.
There seems to be only one colony in the man-made lake at City Center. But how did it get here?
"These organisms put out little reproductive cells that can get stuck in the mud on a bird’s foot, and it flies to another lake and comes off and grows from that,' said Malmquist.
The last few days have been very entertaining for those who work next to the lake at Home Technology. They named the creature the "Alien Pod."
“it was very interesting in that it did cause excitement in the office and a lot of conversation about what it could be," said Pam Hoyt.
The algae feeder is starting to get flat. Last week it was very puffy but it apparently becomes inactive when the weather gets cooler and may eventually sink.
But, it could come back next year… with some friends.
