INDIALANTIC -- The rust-colored goo that invaded Brevard County beaches during the holiday weekend returned Monday, again sending swimmers scrambling to shore, but officials were no closer to figuring out where it came from.
And now they say they're not even sure what it is.
For the fourth day in a row, lifeguards closed a stretch of shoreline near Canova Beach because of the floating, frothy mass, which they've been telling beach-goers is sewage, possibly from cruise ships.
Health officials can't say for sure what the substance is because no one told them about it until Monday, they said. Although test results today are expected to answer whether the sludge really is sewage, lifeguards say they know it when they see it.
"If it smells like a duck and looks like it's a duck, it's a duck," said Wyatt Werneth, Brevard's chief lifeguard, explaining why his folks didn't wait for scientists to make a ruling.
Whatever it is, it's on the move. A quarter-mile-long patch of it was seen near the Volusia County line Monday about two miles offshore, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
Samples have been sent to a lab in Volusia and also to the Florida Marine Research Institute in St. Petersburg to test for algae blooms and other possible sources.
Coast Guard Lt. Tracy Royce said he doubts the goo could have come from a ship.
"My gut reaction tells me that's not what it is," Royce said. "The substance is sticky, and that's just not normal for sewage debris."
Royce also said the Coast Guard had visited every cruise ship and freighter in the area to determine whether their marine-sanitation devices were operating properly and to check their discharge logs.
"Everybody is fine," he said.
Strict guidelines prohibit ships from dumping sewage within three miles of the shore, and only treated sewage can be dumped beyond that three-mile boundary, Royce said.
Werneth, who said the beaches were as busy as usual Monday despite the occasional closures, also downplayed the ship theory. He said lifeguards were being extremely cautious.
"But there is nothing to indicate to anyone it was a ship at all," he said. "It could be from outer space for all I know."
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And now they say they're not even sure what it is.
For the fourth day in a row, lifeguards closed a stretch of shoreline near Canova Beach because of the floating, frothy mass, which they've been telling beach-goers is sewage, possibly from cruise ships.
Health officials can't say for sure what the substance is because no one told them about it until Monday, they said. Although test results today are expected to answer whether the sludge really is sewage, lifeguards say they know it when they see it.
"If it smells like a duck and looks like it's a duck, it's a duck," said Wyatt Werneth, Brevard's chief lifeguard, explaining why his folks didn't wait for scientists to make a ruling.
Whatever it is, it's on the move. A quarter-mile-long patch of it was seen near the Volusia County line Monday about two miles offshore, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
Samples have been sent to a lab in Volusia and also to the Florida Marine Research Institute in St. Petersburg to test for algae blooms and other possible sources.
Coast Guard Lt. Tracy Royce said he doubts the goo could have come from a ship.
"My gut reaction tells me that's not what it is," Royce said. "The substance is sticky, and that's just not normal for sewage debris."
Royce also said the Coast Guard had visited every cruise ship and freighter in the area to determine whether their marine-sanitation devices were operating properly and to check their discharge logs.
"Everybody is fine," he said.
Strict guidelines prohibit ships from dumping sewage within three miles of the shore, and only treated sewage can be dumped beyond that three-mile boundary, Royce said.
Werneth, who said the beaches were as busy as usual Monday despite the occasional closures, also downplayed the ship theory. He said lifeguards were being extremely cautious.
"But there is nothing to indicate to anyone it was a ship at all," he said. "It could be from outer space for all I know."
Want to learn more?
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...jul08,0,1653407.story?coll=orl-news-headlines