A wealth of natural sponges were discovered by turtle fisherman from Key West while dragging nets across the ocean bottom. By the early 1900's, Tarpon Springs Florida became the largest exporter of sponges in the United States. In this episode, I will describe the biology of natural sponge and explain the history, culture and economics of Tarpon Springs and how sponges are collected for commercial sale. Be sure to check out my sea life playlist for more information on coastal plants and animals and organisms you can find on a beach in Florida as well as other east Coast beaches.

Attributions:

Pink sponge
Nhobgood (talk) Nick Hobgood, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., via Wikimedia Commons

Yellow sponge
Twilight Zone Expedition Team 2007, NOAA-OE., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Grey kitchn sponge
Guido Picchetti - http://www.guidopicchetti.it, CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b..., via Wikimedia Commons

Diagram
By Clark MA, Choi J and Douglas M - Clark MA, Choi J and Douglas M (2018) Biology 2e, page 776, OpenStax. ISBN 978-1-947172-52-4., CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...

Sponge diver
Joseph Janney Steinmetz, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons