'Vermicelli' turns out to be manatee grass
Weird white stuff was washing up on Lee County Beaches over the weekend, and at first nobody was sure what it was.
One blogger termed the stuff “Sanibel slippery noodles.” A fishing guide told news-press.com, “It looks like white vermicelli or the tentacles of sea anemones. People were afraid to step on it.”
The mystery was solved when a research scientist at the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation Marine Laboratory identified the bleached-out material as manatee grass, also known as Syringodium filiforme.
“I’ve been here 50 years, and I’ve never seen anything like it,” the fishing guide said.
Exploding pythons. Armless, one-legged drivers. The thief who stashed a
puppy in his pants. Welcome to Bizarre Florida, where weird is the norm.
Relax everyone! This is quite common. Happens alot but mostly goes offshore. Just because you are a fishing guide and haven't seen it doesn't make it uncommon or newsworthy.
Posted by: oceanographer | June 02, 2009 at 04:16 PM
Atleast it's not red tide. I had no idea what that stuff was until I was swimming in it and my skin became inflamed.
Posted by: Denis Baldwin | June 03, 2009 at 09:16 AM