Day 77 - November 29, 2012: Tarpon Springs: a Greek community and the sponge industry

Today we walked the Tarpon Springs old town and explored the history of the sponge industry. It reminded me a bit of the preserved fishing port of Leland, MI.

Tarpon Springs was just a sleepy little fishing village until the sponge industry began to rapidly expand during the 1880s. To support this growth, Greek immigrants with sponge diving experience were hired, and soon Greeks began to settle here in significant numbers. Today, Tarpon Springs has the largest Greek community of any city in the U.S.

Sponge capital of the world

We watched a movie in a local store and learned much about this fascinating industry. Sponges are organisms that thrive on the bottom of the ocean, adhering to rocks and outgrowths. Their bodies have a very fine skeletal structure surrounded by a mucous membrane and are full of pores and channels that allow water to circulate through them. They don't have a mouth or stomach, but absorb nutrients from the water.

We also learned that, by law, a sponge must be larger than 5 inches across to be harvested. Initially, sponges were retrieved from row boats in shallow waters using small rakes on long poles. Later, as the sponge population near the shore was depleted, Greek divers, who were skilled at diving in deep waters, were hired to find sponges.

In looking at the sponges, we observed many shapes, including round, cylindrical, and hollowed out like a basket. They are used for all kinds of cleaning such as washing dishes, floors, cars, people and animals, polishing delicate surfaces such as silver or plastic, and even applying makeup to faces.

Local boat loaded with sponges

After harvesting, boat workers scrape the membranes off the sponges, and they are hung out to dry on lines. Back in port, they are taken to sponge factories where they are further cleaned by removing debris and flushing the interiors with water. Then they are sorted and auctioned for sale around the world.

 Sponges drying on lines

Sponge factory

So many sponges have been taken over the years, that today the number of sponge boats still working has been significantly reduced. As a result, Tarpon Springs is primarily a shrimp fishing port and a boating and tourist destination.

Actually, I have never purchased a real sponge and can only vaguely remember my parents owning one that they used to wash the car. We looked at them, but have not convinced ourselves that we need one!