Mysterious orange goo ID'd as mysterious microscopic eggs

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Scientists have identified an orange-colored gunk that appeared along the shore of a remote Alaska village as millions of microscopic eggs.

But the mystery is not quite solved. Officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Monday they don't know what species the eggs are or if they are toxic.

They have sent samples to a laboratory on the East Coast for further analysis.

The neon orange goo showed up last week on the surface of the water in Kivalina, an Inupiat Eskimo community located at the tip of an 8-mile barrier reef on Alaska's northwest coast.

Residents live largely off the land, and many are worried about the effect on the local wildlife and plants from a substance never seen there before.