Foreigners? Submarines? Was it gas? Bubbles on the California coast spark intrigue

Is it gassy? A top secret submarine? Godzilla rising from the surfer-filled waters of Hermosa Beach?

Residents have been baffled this week by a patch of bubbles rising from the ocean off the coast of Hermosa Beach, prompting many beachgoers to wonder what’s actually beneath the surface and causing the water to swell.

Videos of the bubbles, seen between 33rd Street and Longfellow Avenue, have circulated on social media, with commenters offering various wild and not-so-wild theories. Neighbors stood on the road in the rain, looking at the sea, wondering what it was.

The answer to the bubble mystery turned out to be far from interesting or surprising.

A major clue to unraveling the mystery came on Tuesday, when a boat was spotted in the water, floating near bubbles that raised puzzling questions.

“Same place as yesterday,” Mark Zorales said in a video posted on Facebook, showing a boat in the water and a circle of white bubbles beside it.

The video generated many views but few responses.

“A new submarine test?” One resident was shocked.

“My guess would be a gas release,” thought Bill.

Others wondered if it might be a bait ball, where small fish congregate in the water in a small spherical shape, but another resident noted that no seagulls were flying overhead, looking for a quick meal.

One resident noted that Northrop Grumman had recently discovered an unmanned submarine. Maybe an underwater manta ray-looking boat being tested in their yard?

Another responded to the video with his own theory: a set of alien emojis. One of them jokingly asked, “Would you say gas?”

“I was like, I’ve got to go down there and see,” said Zorales, who on Tuesday decided to take a surfboard and paddle out to the bubbles and get some answers.

On his way out, he ran into two lifeguards on the sand, who said they didn’t know what was in there either, but said the bubbles looked as strong as those created by a jacuzzi.

In a video posted on Facebook, Zorales is seen walking through the water until he reaches a boat near the bubbles, and asks the occupants what’s going on. On board the boat were contractors working on an underwater fiber optic cable. The mystery is solved.

Rick Devaney, with Drake Traffic Control Services, a contractor working on the site, told The Times that the transpacific fiber-optic cable runs under the Pacific Ocean from California to Asia.

“They’re blowing air to make sure the drain is clear,” Devenney said. “They make sure everything is clear to add more cable.”

A crew on the street has been working on blowing air through the line this week, producing the bubbles that show up in the water along the cable, he said.

The work should be done by Friday, he said.

The response, Zorales said, was not as overwhelming as some online speculation.

“It was just funny to see that everyone was in the same boat, guessing,” he said. “Someone has to put an end to it.”