yeah they float. Not sure if they started under the ice. Now that i've been out to a few ponds in the area, it does look like the stringy moss that starts at shore. The only thing that trips me up is that the lady says it starts so far from shore and so deep. usually when I see it, it is in an area that had flooded and is usually under water because it started when it was at the ponds edge.
I may have just answered my own question there, I'll bet its currently growing where the normal high water mark was last year. This spring has been excessively wet, so the water is probably 2 feet deeper than normal, leaving this moss growing so far out into the water
