Scientists with the University of Washington have found glass sponges about 30 miles west of Grays Harbor. This is a significant find because until recently they were thought to be extinct for 100 million years. The first discovery of the glass sponge was found in protected waters of Canada’s Georgia and Hecata straits. This discovery by the U.S. University is thought to be an extension of the reef-building sponges into open ocean waters.
Scientists and environmentalist alike are happy with the discovery not only because they were thought to be rare, but because they may help the ecosystem of the Washington coast because of their reef building nature. They seem to be able to thrive because the seafloor along that area is otherwise very sparsely populated for many miles, according to Paul Johnson, UW professor of oceanography and chief scientist. The beautiful sponge reefs are living with zooplankton, sardines, crabs, prawns and rockfish.
“It’s like looking at an overcrowded aquarium in an expensive Japanese restaurant”, said Paul.
The Canadian reefs are hundreds of miles long and right now it seems the Washington reefs are each only hundreds of feet in length and width, but there is still the possibility of finding longer reefs comparable to that of the ones in Canada.
How are these reefs surviving? In Washington, it seems the reefs are feeding on specialized bacteria that consume methane gas. Researchers were surprised to find large amounts of the gas flowing on the seafloor. This is strange because Canadian researchers haven’t detected methane near the reefs. This means that the Washington variety may be a new type introduced into a different ecosystem.
Photo Credit: University of Victoria
