Spectacular sponges

There are some experiences that words cannot explain. When you fall in love for the first (or second) time, when you give birth to a child, and when you sit at the bottom on the sea at 750 feet, entertained by the creatures that live there.

Photo of a sponge shot from inside the sub.

Yesterday (Wednesday) I did my first research dive. We were diving on the ancient sponge reefs in Goose Trough. As I started to descend, I watched the emerald green sea turn black as the sunlight disappeared. At about 400 feet I descended through cluster of small jellyfish moving in the current. At about 500 feet I came across a school of yellowtail rockfish hanging out in water column.

I reached the bottom and landed in a field of feather stars, extending their branches into the water column. Scattered along the seabed were bright red shortspine thornyhead rockfish nestled in the sand, watching the world go by. The entire seabed looked like it was moving as the delicate brittle stars scuttled away from the sub.

As I moved along the seabed I came across spectacular sponges. Each sponge was host to a diverse community of sea creatures. I stopped the sub in front of a cloud sponge and watched the marine life. I could see a red fur crab holding on tightly to one of the sponge's many tubular braches. Shrimp were darting in and out, dancing lightly on the white edges. As I sat there watching, I saw a rosethorn rockfish gently swim out from a crevice at the bottom. This sponge was more then just a pretty site - it is, and hopefully always will be, also a home. 

Too soon I was called back to the surface. I reluctantly left the world of sponges and made my way to the top. As I ascended into the light I felt that I was leaving a world that may be dark and cold, but it was definitely not empty. And as I left, I set my sights on the next day, when I would voyage again to the bottom of the sea.

~ Jennifer Lash