Mystery Guest Revealed

Thanks to my friend Jason's hard work and research we now have a name for our mystery lake guest.

Bryozoa
The Bryozoa, also known as Ectoprocta or commonly as moss animals, are a phylum of aquatic invertebrate animals. Typically about 0.5 millimetres (0.020 in) long, they are filter feeders that sieve food particles out of the water using a retractable lophophore, a "crown" of tentacles lined with cilia. Most marine species live in tropical waters, but a few occur in oceanic trenches, and others are found in polar waters. One class lives only in a variety of freshwater environments, and a few members of a mostly marine class prefer brackish water. Over 4,000 living species are known. One genus is solitary and the rest colonial.

Thanks, Jason for figuring this out. i was really hoping for "lake monster egg," but this is pretty cool too.

To find out more about bryozoa check out the Wikipedia entry for Bryozoa.
(i know that wikipedia isn't always the most accurate place to get info on the web, but the International Bryozoology Association recommends this page, so...)

What is it?

Danielle took the kids to a movie last night which left me free to go kayaking after work. i didn't have any of my gear with me, aside from the kayak of course, but i rolled up my khakis and headed for the lake anyway. it was pretty humid, but otherwise very pleasant.

The only point of interest was finding this (see pictures). i don't know what it is. i found it a few yards from the shore on the north east side of the lake. at first i thought that it was a large clump of frog eggs or something similar. as i examined it a little more i found that it was all one piece. only a small piece was floating on the surface, the majority was below. it looked like it had once been round (maybe about the size of my head), but had since been torn open. it was very slippery, very dense, and surprisingly heavy (maybe about 8lbs., give or take). i tried to lift it out of the water with my paddle to get a better picture, but the weight combined with the slipperiness made it difficult. at one point i was able to get it balanced on the paddle, but i needed to use both hands to hold the it and could not take a picture.while i had it balanced on the paddle, the weight of the two ends pulled the middle section apart and i was able to see the consistency of the material. it was clear, and looked like jello that has too much gelatin and not enough water. i tried to lower it back into the water before the two pieces completely separated, but i wasn't fast enough. the two pieces tore apart an i lost sight of the bottom half. i think it sank. the top half remained floating. that is when i took these two pictures.

i've never seen anything quite like it and i'm hoping that someone out there can enlighten me as to what it is. i have two theories—lake monster egg or alien embryonic sack. have a better idea? let me know.