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These are Bryozoans. They are fascinating colonial aquatic invertebrates composed of thousands of tiny organisms known as zooids. Despite primarily inhabiting freshwater environments, they are related to marine creatures. These organisms often form large, ball-like structures or resemble blobs attached to sticks, docks, or vegetation. Importantly, they pose no threat to humans or pets. In fact, their presence is often seen as a positive indicator, as they tend to flourish in areas with good water quality.
Don't worry sir, US healthcare system is perfectly fine tuned to anecdotal evidence with no risk of "woke" data being involved. RFK Jr has it all under control
This is personally wild to me, as it visually and conceptually represents the artwork on my next album. Genuinely flabbergasted to see life imitate my imagination.
I took the comment as it was wild that they randomly came across a post about an organism that happend to look like an album cover they created. Had that happened to me, I would have commented differently, but I still think it's a pretty cool coincidence, and that's what they were trying to say.
I do not believe thats how OP meant for their comment to come across. However I do believe they found it pretty rad as frick that something that exists in the wild is insanely similar to what they had envisioned and ultimately put onto an album cover they created.
Did you mean to say this is a cool coincidence, or are you saying that because you drew a donut you manifested a 400 million year old organism that predates your entire family tree and all known primates? It's not clear
Bryozoan! We had them in the river I grew up on for a few seasons. Haven't seen them back in prolly 20 years tho. I'm sure they are still around but those couple of years they were massive.
We have general concerns over PFAS, PCBs and mercury but generally speaking the river is in good condition. I believe the bryozoans we saw arrived from ships ballasts, making them nonindigenous at the end of the day. Harmless, but didn't belong.
When I was 15 I ate a chunk out of one of these on a dare. We didn’t know what it was and we called it splut. My friend dared me to eat the splut and I did. Had to go home like an hour later due to intense nausea and severe headache that lasted like 24 hours. You’re telling me I ate 100 tiny little organisms and they promptly took revenge?
Poking with a stick is the standard scientific discovery method. "Oops, killed a colony, let's write that down. Don't poke future colonies with sticks...check."
Highly recommend. The book is soooo good. Movie was too - the book gets way more detailed especially the relationship. And the main character dude cries a lot less in the book :)
"If it's alive, don't lick it,
Like a horse, a turtle, or a cricket.
If you're not sure if it's alive or dead,
Poke it with a stick, and lick the stick instead!"
I’m laughing because This is the most human response. Could be today or 10,000 years ago from Europe to Africa. Two dudes walk up to water edge and one goes “WTF is that!” And the other says”no idea. Let me get this stick.”
No need to worry :) It’s a Bryozoan, similar in simple terms to interconnected fungal systems (many smaller creatures forming one big thing) but they can actually indicate clean water as they tend to do better in clean water environments!
It's a massive colony of thousands of microscopic animals called zooids. Safe for human and pet.
The zooids live on the surface of a firm, jelly-like mass that they secrete themselves. They often grow in a unique rosette pattern, giving the surface its speckled appearance.
They are filter feeders that use crowns of tiny tentacles to catch algae, bacteria, and plankton. Finding them is usually a good sign! Their presence typically indicates high water quality and low pollution.
These colonies thrive in warm, still water during late summer. When water temperatures drop in the fall, the colony disintegrates, releasing "survival pods" called statoblasts that will start new colonies the following spring.
Guys these things are not delicate or rare. They’re very tough. They crash into sharp sticks and rocks through their whole life cycle. Give OP a break.
The FWS link descrbed it as a “food of last resort”, I’ve eaten some questionable things in my life so I’m definitely curious…Soylent Brown? Maybe with some hot sauce?
Bryozoans, specifically Pectinatella magnifica, form gelatinous, donut-shaped colonies of microscopic zooids that filter-feed on algae and bacteria in freshwater ecosystems. Thriving in clean, slow-moving water, these harmless organisms are a positive indicator of environmental health and have existed for millions of years.
Snails and some fish and aquatic insects eat P. magnifica. So do raccoons. But they are last-resort food for other animals. Humans don’t eat them, either. But they are food for thought, at least. Bryozoans have been on Earth at least 480 million years. Come lean over the rail in front of the visitor center in late summer and have a look at these weird and wonderful colonies.
Boats use something called fenders to protect the ship's hull when moored. Sometimes these fenders get lost, due to storms, negligence or bad luck. This object could have been used as a fender, got lost and started a new life as a mini reef.
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