I fully expect to discover that the explanation is both boring and my own stupid fault, but the Andromeda Strain possibility is a lot more interesting...There is this possibility...
Anton Shkaplerov, who will return to the ISS next month, says cotton swabs wiped over the exterior of the station's Russian segment revealed an unidentified life-form that has already been sent back to Earth for scientific analysis.
Could there have been a leak from the lab?
Which opens the question, where has the boat been kept? Black coral is not generally found in shallow northern waters, although it has been found in all oceans at all depths, so maybe.
I spent a bit of time the other day scraping at the stuff without any epiphanies. It is really really hard, which makes me think it is some kind of product of metal corrosion rather than organic, but it sits on top of the antifouling paint. In a few areas, the barrier coat has failed and this stuff did not appear to extend all the way through to the bare lead.
