“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: Sponge research
Larval Settlement Project and Volunteer Divers 2020 by Sheila Byers
Larvae of the cloud sponge, Aphrocallistes vastus, the key reef-building species in Howe Sound (partnered with the fingered goblet sponge, Heterochone calyx), are known to disperse and mix genetically across the sponge reefs in the Salish Sea. But where are these larvae? Not only are the larvae microscopic and difficult to see or find, little…
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 