Milky marks appearing in finish of exotic wood floor

Q: We have Brazilian cherry floors with Swedish finish, installed in 2004. There are milky marks appearing in the finish. They now look like tread marks from athletic shoes. We don’t have any shoes that match the pattern. Any clues to what is happening?

A: I don’t have a great deal of experience with exotic woods such as Jatoba. To tell you the truth, I try to stay away from them.

I know it can change colour rapidly and in fact have seen it.

I’ve also heard that white marks can appear in some batches of Jatoba as an interaction with extractives in the wood and solvents in floor finish but I don’t know why it would take this long to appear if that were the issue.