Newfoundland’s shores have become the site of some unsightly flotsam in recent days — hundreds of pale, doughy blobs of an unknown material that has been compared to waterlogged Styrofoam, poorly baked bread and even “toutons,” a local dish consisting of leftover dough fried in pork fat.

International media has taken note, with stories of the weird objects popping up in the New York Post, Britain’s Guardian newspaper and elsewhere. The only problem is that no one seems to know what they are.