May 28, 2010
It could be easy to confuse these animals, called "sea pork," with tar balls -- especially considering the widespread concern about the possible effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster on Sanibel, Captiva, and Ft. Myers beaches.
Citizens have been coming across sea pork and calling Dr. Bruce Neill of the Sanibel Sea School, and PURRE Chairman Mike Valiquette, wondering if tar balls are washing up on our beaches.
Sea pork is a colonial animal related to a sea squirt, and they wash up pretty regularly, according to Dr. Neill. They are usually beige, white or brown, but they can sometimes be black -- as shown in the picture at left taken by Mike Valiquette. When black, they are easy to confuse with tar balls.
The Sanibel Sea School has provided a thorough explanation of this highly evolved marine invertebrate, along with other educational articles relating to the oil disaster, on its site at http://sanibelseaschool.wordpress.com/
How can you tell if you’re looking at a glob of oil versus a glob of sea pork? The Sanibel Sea School advises that sea pork is firm, smooth, and flexible. It appears and feels very much like rubber, and comes in many colors. If you look closely, you will be able to see the thousands of tiny distinct individual animals that make up the larger organism housed in the firm mass of cellulose. Said Dr. Neill: "It’s like an apartment building full of tiny residents."
Oil usually shows up on beaches in the form of mousse or tar balls. Oil mousse is brownish-orange in color, with the consistency of thick pudding. Tar balls are black, very dense in weight, and feel sticky.
If you think you’ve found oil, report it to local officials for further investigation. If you find a piece of sea pork, enjoy the opportunity to take a closer look at a very interesting marine organism.
Thank you to Dr. Bruce Neill and the staff at the Sanibel Sea School for their expertise on this interesting marine invertebrate and what to look for.
