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A round sponge, perched on a bit of hard substrate, out in the sand.  Sponges have holes.  Sponges are animals!  They are filter feeders.  Very simple, and in an evolutionary 'dead end' because of this simplicity.  They are made of cells that act as a kind of skin, cells with little whips that draw in water, cells that distribute food particles, and interior cells for structure.  No circulatory system, blood or lymph, no lungs, no senses, eyes or ears.  Yet somehow, they do reproduce, all at the same time.  The male and female sponges simultaneously releasing eggs and sperm into the water.  They look like they're smoking, sometimes a very dense 'fog' rising up from the central hole.

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A very old 'clump of sponge...

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Silt is always a problem I'm not sure how sponges deal with silt.  Corals make slime and silt falls off.  A lot of effort for the coral polyps.

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A yellow Tube Sponge, a very large, old animal. And a brown tube sponge on the side.

Hmm, all for today, see you tomorrow!  Thanks for stopping by.

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