In what is easily the clubhouse leader for the story most representative of the fact that today is a Friday before a long weekend, the Post’s Paul Farhi confirms that the disgusting sea foam which covered WTTG meterologist Tucker Barnes last weekend and spawned an internet sensation was, in fact, not toxic.

Reports Farhi:

Parsons said that the water off Ocean City is tested regularly for pollutants and that the area is rated among the cleanest in the country by environmental groups. He doesn’t recall a single beach closure in Ocean City because of water pollution during his 28-year career.

Marine biologist Elizabeth Venrick said that sea foam is created when high surf or high winds whip up “dissolved organic material.” Such material, she said, comes from decaying marine plant and animal life but is also composed of “all sorts of stuff” contributed by humans.

“The real question is: Is it harmful?” asked Venrick, of the University of California at San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Her answer: “Generally not,” unless the organic material is largely caused by a sewage spill or toxic algae bloom — in which case, the answer is “probably yes.” The foam usually goes away a few days after the “whipping” stops, she said.

Of course, the whole thing remains hilarious, despite the fact that Barnes won’t be sprouting an extra arm during the 11 o’clock broadcast anytime soon.