“Sponges are not primitive. They are simple, yet sophisticated organisms. The value of sponges to humans is their capacity to build habitats that provide food for other marine life as well as us, and they hold a diversity of chemical structures significant for the development of antiviral drugs. Surely these are reasons enough to protect the sponges and their habitats.”
Tag: glass sponge
Swimming the Sound for Glass Sponge Reefs: Aětl’ka7tsem/Howe Sound Swimming Project
Jessi Harewicz swims Howe Sound to build awareness of the rare and fragile glass sponge reefs.
Jessi has a deep and abiding love of nature and the marine world. This is her special way to help protect what she loves.
Lost Reef Bioherm temperature update
The dive team of Scott Meixner, Julian Goss, Kim Ansell and Cam Jackson, recovered and reinstalled the Lost Reef bioherm temperature logger. The underwater visibility was approaching 45 feet and ocean current were low making for good diving conditions. The maximum depths of the divers was about 110 feet, with above average nature lighting conditions…
Kelvin Grove glass sponges at risk from damage by fishing gear
May 23 2015, in the early morning a commercial prawn fishing vessel deployed a longline set of prawn traps over the Kelvin Grove sponge bioherm near Lions Bay. Drop camera footage (see video above) has documented high abundance of glass sponges in this area, with some large sponges likely over a metre tall. The sponge…
Temperatures at Lions Bay sea mount
Saturday August 1st Floating over the Lions Bay sea mount, oceanographic biologist Lena Clayton and MLSS director Glen Dennison prepare to drop a temperature probe 415 feet down to the base of the Lions Bay sea-mount. The probe is rigged with an auto-release unit (AR unit) programmed to return the instrument package to the…
Conservation groups welcome protection for Strait of Georgia’s unique glass sponge reefs
JOINT MEDIA RELEASE Conservation groups welcome protection for Strait of Georgia’s unique glass sponge reefs Vancouver, BC – 5 June 2015 – Local and national conservation groups are welcoming today’s announcement by the federal government of fishing closures for the Strait of Georgia’s glass sponge reefs – a global treasure found nowhere else in the…
Defence Island Bioherm Dive – May 31, 2015
On May 31, 2015 Roy Mulder (MLSS president), Glen Dennison (MLSS director), Adam Taylor (UCBC president & MLSS director) and photographer Diane Reid dove on the Defence Island Bioherm to take photographs for the Vancouver Aquarium sponge research program. In support, were helmsman Alex Askew and divers Dave Park and Paul Sim. The crew was…
Marine Life Sanctuaries Society 