White dots appeared on Newfoundland beaches recently, sparking an investigation by Canadian officials.
Resident Stan Tobin described it as doughy — “as if someone tried to bake bread and did a lousy job” — with an odor reminiscent of vegetable oil.
Beachgoers at the southern end of the Canadian province began reporting the strange substance around early September.
The BBC contacted officials in Ottawa for comment, but did not receive a response.
Pictures of the substance began to appear on a group of beachgoers online, sparking speculation that it was fungi or mold, palm oil, paraffin wax, or even amber, a rare and valuable substance produced by whales and used in the perfume industry.
One poster noted that it looked like the dough used to make “toutun,” a regional dough dish often fried in pork fat.
Official spokesperson for Environment and Climate Change Canada He told the Globe and Mail The material is not petroleum hydrocarbons, petroleum lubricants, biofuels or biodiesel.
While a marine ecologist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada told the newspaper that it is not a marine sponge and does not contain any biological materials.
The dots were spotted along the shores of Placentia Bay, on the southeast coast of Newfoundland.
Mr. Tobin, a local environmental activist, lives in Ship Cove, a small village on the bay, and regularly strolls the beaches.
He discovered the mysterious blobs one day last month, initially thinking they looked like Styrofoam.
He said he has since found “hundreds and hundreds of pellets — big pellets and small pellets,” most of which are about 6 inches (15 cm) in diameter.
But when he called the Canadian Coast Guard to report the findings, Mr. Tobin was told that was unlikely as a basis for the material.
“Someone or someone knows where this came from and how it got there,” Tobin said. “And he knows damn well he’s not supposed to be here.”
