Source: NORTH CAROLINA HEALTH NEWS, 5/22/21


Beneath the clear, turquoise waters off the shores of Carrie Bow Cay, Belize, sponges and seaweed have taken up residence where coral once flourished. The sponges that cover reef there — part of the Meso-American Barrier Reef — pump massive amounts of seawater, are a food source for various reef fish, and, as one doctorate student at the University of North Carolina Wilmington has discovered, certain species of sponge absorb toxic chemical compounds.

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