Project Florida Bay Restoration: Saving the Sponges
Today, Florida Keys is nothing but a mere shadow of how it used to be. A little more than 25
years ago, the sponge community was full of life, like an underwater city filled with fish and
other invertebrates. Divers could not just see the shrimp, they could also hear them snapping,
crackling, and popping. This noise was also evidence of the healthy condition of the sponges
that were serving as nurseries to the new generation of marine life.
Fast forward to the present time, divers can only hear silence. There is no more sign of the
former hustle-and- bustle of these sea creatures as they hunt for food.
The Reason
In the 1990s, an increase in phytoplankton levels, or algae blooms, led to the extinction of these
sponges. Dead sponges were found in areas covering more than 500 square miles, bigger than
the city of Los Angeles itself. Because of their role in the growth of the marine population, their
deaths are then naturally causing massive impacts on the whole ecosystem. To try to save what
is left, researchers are trying out transplantation to boost the community.
A team combined of researchers from the University of Florida and Old Dominion University
and 40 volunteers from around the world are hoping to intervene and save the ecosystem.
According to John Stevely, sponge researcher and Florida Sea Grant agent emeritus,
transplantation of sponge cuttings will speed up the process of regrowth to avoid the full dying-
out of the ecosystem.
Stevely says that sponge communities normally take dozens of years to recover and when they
disappear, they do not return naturally even after a few years. The project allows them to make
this recovery faster and at the same time, allow scientists to understand sponges better.
The Importance of Marine Sponges
Marine sponges are not just important commercially, but they are also the backbone of local
marine life. Researchers believe that the sounds produced by the creatures living in the
sponges play a huge role in guiding fish larva and other invertebrates to finding a safe space,
much like what happens in coral reef communities.
More than that, their bodies are porous and are made of a complex combination of chambers
and canals. These work at filtering the water and regulate the chemistry of the water. More
importantly, they house juvenile fish and invertebrates. They also impact human life, as
research point to huge contributions to medicine. Compounds from these sponges might, later
on, be vital in drug development much like how the cancer drug cytosine arabinoside was
manufactured from Cryptotethya cripta, a sponge from the Carribean.
The Project
Unfortunately, marine sponges are quite sensitive and prone to mass extinction, especially
when they experience a lot of stress. Getting them back to recovery is tricky because they grow
very slowly and their larva disperses at a very low rate. After much research, the team finally
discovered that sponge cuttings could be transplanted successfully in certain recovery sites. As
a result, new populations start to grow after a few years.
However, the work does not end here. What comes next is to fully establish whether these
restoration sites could eventually grow back to the lively and diverse ecosystems they used to
be.
As part of the project, researchers and volunteers are trying to plant various sponge species.
This way, they can determine whether other species are also viable for transplantation. So far, 4
species have seen success: the loggerhead sponge, brown branching sponge, vase sponge, and
the yellow rope sponge. These have been prioritized because of their large sizes during
adulthood and at the same time because they can act as major filter feeders. Still, these 4
comprise only a small percentage of sponges that are naturally found in the Florida Keys.
The Plan for the Future
With more funding, the researchers can try out other species, if they can also be successfully
regrown and eventually transplanted. With every species that gets restored, the closer the
team is to eventually bring this underwater community back to life.
Stevely remains positive due to the success of the first steps of the project and looks forward to
the next stages.
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