"Organic" masses wash up near Fort Morgan

FORT MORGAN, Ala. (WALA) - Black mats on the beach at Fort Morgan following Hurricane Isaac had some beach goers worried.

Since the BP oil spill in 2010, there has been a constant worry of tar mats washing ashore during storms like Isaac but, this time around, things may not appear to be what they seem.

The mystery of the “Black Mats”

For Ft. Morgan beach combers, thick, black mats are a curiosity. There are several of the out-of-place mats on the beach.

Gardner Smith, from Monroe, La. said, “We initially thought it was tar. Don’t know actually what it is.”

Since 2010’s oil spill, there has been a constant concern about what a storm like Isaac could wash up. It begs the question: what are these mats?

Jim Akers, a chemical engineer on vacation in Baldwin County dug into the mystery, literally. He scooped up handfuls of the muck and studied the look, feel, and smell of the substance.

“It’s peat,’ Akers said. “It’s not oily at all. It’s just decaying vegetable matter.”

The Coast Guard's own analysis agrees with Akers. A spokesperson said samples were taken and found to contain organic matter, not oil.

A swamp uncovered

Near the mats, just under the water, there are more clues. There are a number of tree stumps, part of a swamp or a stream bed that was uncovered by Isaac.

A property manager said Isaac washed away several feet of sand; that erosion not only uncovered the mats, but also an old shipwreck just yards away.

While that solves the mystery of the mats, some tar did turn up. At the high-tide line, small tar balls are on the sand. In the days leading up to the storm, a BP official said that the possibility of more oil washing up was a contingency for which the company was prepared.

“We know that there's a chance that there's some product that's been covered up that will be uncovered,” said Ray Melick, with BP.

Beach comber Jackie Taylor said she saw crews picking up some of the tar balls.

She said, “Apparently they were seeing some very small ones here, but I don’t see any tar balls in the water itself.”