Scientists identify the mysterious muck floating in Cape Coral canals

Brown gunk is floating in Cape Coral canals. Neighbors noticed it popping up a few weeks ago. It is different from the blue-green algae that we are used to seeing. A sample WINK News took straight to experts looks kind of green when it is out of the water and a little like moss. But it is covering a Cape Coral canal and neighbors are getting worried. It is brownish-green, stringy and covering a southeast Cape Coral canal.

“We don’t really know what it is.,” said Lawrence Donaldson, a Cape Coral resident.

“I don’t know what it is,” said Anne Marie Alonso, a Cape Coral resident. “I don’t know what it looks like I can’t identify it.”

Alonso said the gunk showed up maybe a month ago. Since then, she and her neighbors have wondered if it is algae and whether or not to be worried.

“My biggest concern is it’s here longer than it ever was before,” Alonso said.