'Mystery Blobs' in Reston Lakes? Here's the Scoop

It’s not the creature from the Black Lagoon, but some were wondering recently what groundskeepers had found at Lake Anne Plaza, when they swept up a big blob of something that made its way onto Twitter and into Restonian. Others had reportedly seen them floating in Lake Audubon and Lake Anne.

We now have our answers.

The “blobs” are actually organic objects, identified by Reston Association staff as Bryozoa (moss animals). The freshwater aquatic colonial animals are harmless and their existence is an indicator of healthy lakes.

Back in August, Restonian reported that groundskeepers at Lake Anne Plaza had swept up one of the big blobs.

“They are actually pretty cool wonders of nature,” said Claudia Thompson-Deahl, RA’s Environmental Resources Senior Manager, in a news release from the association. “They only live in clean water, so that’s a real plus.”

The sponge-like moss animals serve as filters of various micro-organisms in the lakes. They have existed in Reston waters for many years, according to Thompson-Deahl. Most moss animals form in spring and die in winter.

Questions were recently raised about what the “mystery objects” were and suggested that they should be eliminated. However, RA staff said that while Bryozoa can be considered a nuisance in certain environments, they have never caused any problems in Reston lakes and are beneficial to the local environment.

PHOTO of similar Bryozoa, courtesy of realmonstrosities.com