Rare Glass sponge found on Pacific seafloor

[Phanman]

Interesting....

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20055869/

Rare glass sponge found on Pacific seafloor
Reef-building sponges host a thriving community of creatures
The same species of glass sponge in this 2005 photo is one of a trio of reef-building sponges that have been discovered on the Pacific seafloor. The sponges, the tallest of which are 1 1/2 feet tall, have grown on mounds of skeletons of previous generations of glass sponges.


Updated: 1:20 p.m. MT July 31, 2007
Reef-building glass sponges, thought until recently to be long extinct, have been found off the coast of Washington state, scientists announced yesterday.

Solitary glass sponges, so named because they are made of silica (the same material as beach sand and that is used to make glass), can be found living in many parts of the world's oceans, but they are different species than those that build themselves into reefs.

The three reef-building species were thought to be extinct for 100 million years until they were found a few years ago in protected Canadian waters.

[NateL]

Thats pretty cool that its in our backyard/ocean.