GLIN==> Media release: Winds Blew "Whale Burps" onto Superior's Shore

*Winds Blew "Whale Burps" onto Superior's Shore**
*
Contact: Sharon Moen, 218-726-6195, smoen at umn.edu
Attached "Whale Burp" photo by Chris J. Benson

Winter winds whipping around Duluth and Lake Superior can produce more 
than snowdrifts. They can also produce "whale burps." Also known as surf 
balls,these oval or round bundles of fibrous material periodically show 
up on coastlines throughout the world.

Curious beachcomber Glenn Maxham of Duluth brought two of these unusual 
balls into the Minnesota Sea Grant office for identification after his 
son found them near the city's Lakewalk following a New Year's Eve 
storm. Grasses, twigs, and partially degraded polymer mesh were 
evidently tumbling together in the shallows of Lake Superior to form 
Maxham's plum-sized "whale burps."

Oregon Sea Grant writes that although no formal research has been done 
on these aquatic oddities, theory suggests that as lost monofilament (or 
in this case, strands of black plastic) rolls about in nearshore waves, 
it graduallycollects seaweed, pine needles, dune grass, small feathers, 
shell fragments, and other debris, forming a tight bristly ball. 
Scientists have found surf balls made of fine vegetative strands on 
Egyptian beaches and surf balls twice the size of a large orange on 
Australian shores.

Despite the curio-cabinet intrigue of finding a surf ball, discarded and 
lost plastics damage aquatic environments and the creatures that live 
therein. In a 2008 article in /Environmental Research,/Charles Moore of 
the Algalita Marine Research Foundation reported over 260 marine species 
ingest or have been entangled in plastic debris. When these plastics 
break down, research has shown they can release the suspected carcinogen 
styrene monomer and bisphenol A (BPA), which has been proven to 
interfere with reproduction. In 2006 the United Nations Environment 
Program estimated that 46,000 pieces of plastic float in every square 
mile of ocean and, as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration predicted, much of this plastic swirls in the North 
Pacific Subtropical Gyre.

Sarah Erickson of the Great Lakes Aquarium reports that Minnesota 
volunteers picked thousands of plastic items from the Lake Superior 
watershed during the 2010 Beach Sweep. "About 33 percent of the items 
collected were plastics," said Erickson. "This does not include 
cigarette butts, which made up about 50 percent of all the material 
collected.

You don't have to wait for the 2011 Beach Sweep to find shoreline trash 
and treasures. Take advantage of the next wild, blustery day. Bundle up, 
grab a trash bag and as you are cleaning up shoreline litter, look for 
your own whale burp."

  ###

  Minnesota Sea Grant facilitates interaction among the public and 
scientists to enhance the environment and communities along Lake 
Superior and Minnesota's inland waters by identifying information needs, 
fostering research, and communicating results. Minnesota Sea Grant is 
funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and 
the University of Minnesota.It is part of NOAA Sea Grant, a nationwide 
network of 32 similar science-based programs.


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