Hobbies And Interests
Filtration
Sponges consume bacteria and phytoplankton through their feeder valves, and excrete them through other valves, effectively converting these microorganisms to non-organic nutrients, which are carried away by currents and absorbed by sea plant life, like algae, which is necessary to feed many types of sea life.
Oxygen
Some sponges are ideal hosts for photosynthesizing endosymbionts, which cover the surface of the sponges and provide a mutually beneficial relationship by helping to produce about three times as much oxygen as the host sponge consumes, in addition to the waste minerals sponges produce. In this way, some sponges are a net benefit to their environment, making them producers of ecosystem health.
Medicinal Potential
Due to their ability to absorb tiny microorganisms, many sponges are laden with bioactive compounds and organisms that may be useful to science and medicine. Far from being sterile cleaning objects, wild sponges have great potential to be laden with all types of filtered bacteria that may be useful.
Human Use
The common image of a sea sponge is one disinfected, dried, and used as a natural loofah for hygiene purposes. Many people believe that sea sponges are better for their skin, but the original purpose of using sea sponges were as menstruation management, due to the excellent absorption powers of sea sponges.