bonairefans
Contributor
We are mid-way through a 15-day stay on Bonaire, and had a rare (for us) experience today: a reef spawning event.
At 3 pm while diving Bachelor Beach, we observed a single brown sponge (phylum Porifera?) begin "erupting". Within 45-minutes, sponges over a wide area began releasing gametes. A white cloud filled the water and coated the reef.
We witnessed this only once before, several days after the full moon in early October. Apparently, this particular sponge follows a lunar cycle.
It was very cool to witness this act of reproduction on such a large scale.
[video=youtube;VNurtF0BbgE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNurtF0BbgE[/video]
At 3 pm while diving Bachelor Beach, we observed a single brown sponge (phylum Porifera?) begin "erupting". Within 45-minutes, sponges over a wide area began releasing gametes. A white cloud filled the water and coated the reef.
We witnessed this only once before, several days after the full moon in early October. Apparently, this particular sponge follows a lunar cycle.
It was very cool to witness this act of reproduction on such a large scale.
[video=youtube;VNurtF0BbgE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNurtF0BbgE[/video]
