On July 29, my grandson and I discovered a jelly-blob looking “creature” in Buckhorn Lake. It’s about the size of a small loaf bread (or a haggis !) and seems to have some seaweed attached to it (or even through it).

Toni Sinclair, Buckhorn Lake

Note: This is probably a colony of Bryozoa (Pectinatella magnifica), a native freshwater invertebrate related to coral. The colonies can be as big as a watermelon by late summer. They are usually affixed to a stick or some other submerged object. Bryozoa are filter feeders that sieve food particles out of the water using a retractable, microscopic crown of tentacles lined with cilia. They are fairly common in the Kawartha Lakes. D.M.

Bryozoa colony – Stoney Lake – 2013 – Rob Welsh