Mysterious gray floating substance in Harsch pot

[MockY]

Substance Floating On The Surface

I just opened my Harsch pot to package my second batch of kraut from this 7.5 liter crock. My first attempt was perfect. I left it for one month and the resulting kraut was absolutely stunning. It was shocking how great it was. I promptly made another batch, but this time I included cucumbers and jalapenos. Yesterday I opened it for the first time with intention of "harvesting" the contents. I little early (3 weeks in) but I could not contain my excitement.

To my surprise, there is a gray/brow substance floating on top. It does not resemble some common yeast I've found in pictures, though one of the floats have a couple of bubbles. It fell apart fairly easily when I attempted to fish it out before removing the stones. The mote has had salty water in it and it did not dry out. If anything, the atmospheric pressure may have sucked some in, which would be a potential for contamination.

The smell is somewhat pleasant, but it's not as clean as the last batch. It could be because it's not fully fermented and thus does not yet have that distinct clean but funky smell. It could be the peppers as well I suppose. But the smell coupled with this substance makes me a little nervous. It does taste good, but due to the amount of jalapenos, the heat kicks in and it's hard to fully evaluate the taste whether it's like it's supposed to be at this stage.

All of the kraut, cucumbers, and jalapenos have have been submerged in plenty of brine for the duration of the ferment (though there may have been some very small particles of dill that floated up), and the amount of salt used is somewhat unknown as I salt as I go. I want as little as possible, but I add enough to make it taste pleasantly salty and enough brine is extracted.

So first off, what is this substance floating on top? And could this be a product of not using clean enough hands? I had a friend helping me this time and I remember he had an open cut. Not bleeding or anything, but not fully healed either. I've used gloves in subsequent batches I've made in mason jars.

In order to everyone interested in helping to identify this, I uploaded the pictures unedited externally so it would be as easy as possible. Let me know if a different method is recommended per the rules of the forum
Substance Floating On The Surface