Rare video of sponges spawning

Divers off Palm Beach caught a rare glimpse of an underwater spectacle not often seen on tape. Susan Gardner shot video of barrel sponges spawning on the Breakers Reefs just off the coast of Palm Beach.

The cloudy water is the male sponge; and the thick matter is the female producing eggs. The barrel spawning typically happens only once a year and rarely is it caught on tape.

“The sponges start spawning after the full moon in may and they stimulate other sponges downstream so it’s an all or nothing every sponge that gets hit with a water column with sperm and eggs in it starts producing.”

Angel and butterfly fish were among the other species that can be seen swimming near the sponges.

Watch

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