The Sponge Reef Project is a binational scientific project between Germany and Canada to study the

sponge reef Sponge reefs are reefs formed by Hexactinellid sponges, which have a skeleton made of silica, and are often referred to as ''glass sponges''. Such reefs are now very rare, and found only in waters off the coast of British Columbia, Washington ( ...

s off

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, reefs formed by

sponge Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through t ...

s of the

Hexactinellid Hexactinellid sponges are sponges with a skeleton made of four- and/or six-pointed siliceous spicules, often referred to as glass sponges. They are usually classified along with other sponges in the phylum Porifera, but some researchers consi ...

family. The project was started in 1999, following the discovery of the reefs in 1991; earlier, this reef type was thought to have existed mainly in the

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...

period.

External links

The Sponge Reef ProjectB.C.'s Reefs Among Science's Great Finds , Straight.com
Reefs of the Pacific Ocean Reefs {{ecology-stub