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Sea Sponge Irritation

Sea Sponge Irritation Overview

Sea sponges grow on shells, stones, or other solid objects on the ocean floor. Sea sponges pump water into themselves through tiny pores on their tough outer skin, where microscopic food particles are filtered out. Some sponges can pump up to 6 gallons of water each day.

Sponges vary in size, shape, and color. Divers who hunt for sea sponges find green, yellow, orange, red, and purple sponges, which are only harvestable if they are at least 5 inches across. Some sponges, however, can grow up to 6 feet across.

Sea sponges for sale in stores have been cleaned and do not resemble their living form because all the living tissue has been removed. Only the skeleton remains.

They live in temperate, subtropical, and tropical waters. Sea sponges are not aggressive, so human contact is intentional or accidental. A rash results when skin contact is made with a sea sponge’s excrement.

To harvest sponges, divers use gloves, which reduce the contact with excrement, but some of the irritants may pass through certain glove materials or seep into the glove at the wrist.

The rash is a reaction to histamine contained in some meats. If eaten, the substance produces a more generalized rash rather than irritation in one spot.