No, I’m not talking about Sponge Bob or any of his pals! I’m talking about sponges, the real sponges growing on the ocean floor. They are always beautiful, of course, but I had the thrill recently of seeing them spawn!
At first I thought it looked like those ocean vents in the very, very deep ocean, the ones that are smoking with heat from the earth’s core…then I realized, it is sponge sex! Sponges have both eggs and sperm, and can reproduce either way. As to why a sponge decides to send out sperm to fertilize other sponge’s eggs…it is a mystery too deep for me to solve! Here are some gorgeous sponges and enjoy the dive video!
![Unicode](https://tamtravels.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/sc-mar09-pal-gardens-deep-boring-sponges-and-brain-coral-640x427.jpg)
![coz 07 hand sponge](https://tamtravels.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/coz-07-hand-sponge-640x427.jpg)
![Unicode](https://tamtravels.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/coz-08-jun-col-deeps-sponges-640x427.jpg)
![coz 10 jan pal pinn sponge fingers](https://tamtravels.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/coz-10-jan-pal-pinn-sponge-fingers-320x480.jpg)
![coz creatures jul 06 fire coral](https://tamtravels.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/coz-creatures-jul-06-fire-coral-640x480.jpg)
![coz vb 12 parrot camo and sponges of color](https://tamtravels.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/coz-vb-12-parrot-camo-and-sponges-of-color-640x480.jpg)
![sc 10 fran barrel arrow crab sea pearl baby](https://tamtravels.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/sc-10-fran-barrel-arrow-crab-sea-pearl-baby-640x427.jpg)
![Unicode](https://tamtravels.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/sponge-sperm-640x480.jpg)