{"id":40375,"date":"2026-04-03T23:06:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T23:06:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=40375"},"modified":"2026-04-03T23:06:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T23:06:21","slug":"once-thought-to-be-extinct-ancient-cloud-sponge-seen-in-b-c-waters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=40375","title":{"rendered":"Once thought to be extinct, ancient cloud sponge seen in B.C. waters"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-article-socialshare=\"true\">\n<div id=\"article-fontSizer\" class=\"c-fontSizer\">\n<p>\n\t\t<button class=\"c-fontSizer__button c-fontSizer__button--decrease c-button c-button--details c-button--mini\" data-trackable=\"true\" data-trackaction=\"Font Sizer Decrease Font\" data-tooltip-title=\"Decrease text size\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"sr-only\">Descrease article font size<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<svg class=\"c-icon  c-fontSizer__icon\" focusable=\"false\">\n\t\t<use xlink:href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/wp-content\/themes\/shaw-globalnews\/assets\/dist\/icons\/out\/symbol\/svg\/sprite.symbol.svg?v=03zxzk4qx#font-decrease\"\/>\n\t<\/svg><br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t<button class=\"c-fontSizer__button c-fontSizer__button--increase c-button c-button--details c-button--mini\" data-trackable=\"true\" data-trackaction=\"Font Sizer Increase Font\" data-tooltip-title=\"Increase text size\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"sr-only\">Increase article font size<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<svg class=\"c-icon  c-fontSizer__icon\" focusable=\"false\">\n\t\t<use xlink:href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/wp-content\/themes\/shaw-globalnews\/assets\/dist\/icons\/out\/symbol\/svg\/sprite.symbol.svg?v=03zxzk4qx#font-increase\"\/>\n\t<\/svg><br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p>A B.C. diver has made an extraordinary discovery beneath the waters of Saanich Inlet.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Ancient <a href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/tag\/cloud-sponge\">cloud sponges<\/a> were once thought to be extinct, but Ryan Swan from Be Sea Adventure captured them on video.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was really cool, like visually to see the sponges in their habitat, the way they are at Christmas Point was fascinating,\u201d Swan said.<\/p>\n<p>The dive site located in the Saanich Inlet is one of the few places in the world where ancient cloud sponges can be observed, but getting there isn\u2019t easy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI had to take on technical dive training, which is an advanced type of scuba diving,\u201d Swan said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo that helps you go beyond the limits of what recreational diving allows.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"l-article__part\" data-shortcode=\"tp_video\">\n<div class=\"c-video c-videoPlay \" data-iframe-receiver=\"\" data-autoplay=\"\" data-displayinline-featured=\"false\" data-displayinline-type=\"video\" data-displayinline-player-id=\"miniplayer_10947681_69d042c83dc23\" data-displayinline-video-id=\"10947681\" data-displayinline-ratio=\"16:9\" data-displayinline=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/video\/embed\/10947681\/#autoplay&amp;stickyiframe=miniplayer_10947681_69d042c83dc23\" data-displayinline-sticky=\"true\" data-permutive-data=\"{&quot;content&quot;:{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Timelapse of sea sponge 'Belinda' sneezing, hibernating and changing off coast of Vancouver Island&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;video&quot;,&quot;sections&quot;:[&quot;videos&quot;,&quot;bc&quot;,&quot;science&quot;],&quot;keywords&quot;:[&quot;barkley-sound&quot;,&quot;belinda&quot;,&quot;climate-change&quot;,&quot;nature&quot;,&quot;ocean&quot;,&quot;ocean-life&quot;,&quot;research&quot;,&quot;sea-creature&quot;,&quot;sea-sponge&quot;,&quot;study&quot;,&quot;vancouver-island&quot;],&quot;iab&quot;:{&quot;categories&quot;:[&quot;Science\\\/Earth Sciences&quot;,&quot;Hobbies and Leisure&quot;,&quot;Science&quot;,&quot;Hobbies and Leisure\\\/Water Activities&quot;],&quot;tags&quot;:[&quot;Bioindicator&quot;,&quot;Cloud&quot;,&quot;Decompression practice&quot;,&quot;Ecosystem&quot;,&quot;Gas&quot;,&quot;Glass&quot;,&quot;Habitat&quot;,&quot;Hexactinellid&quot;,&quot;Marine life&quot;,&quot;Nutrient&quot;,&quot;Ocean&quot;,&quot;Prawn&quot;,&quot;Recreational diving&quot;,&quot;Saanich Inlet&quot;,&quot;Saanich, British Columbia&quot;,&quot;Scuba diving&quot;,&quot;Sea&quot;,&quot;Species&quot;,&quot;Sponge&quot;,&quot;Underwater diving&quot;,&quot;Vancouver&quot;,&quot;Vancouver Island&quot;,&quot;Water quality&quot;,&quot;YouTube&quot;]}}}\">\n<div class=\"c-video__inner \">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-video__placeholder\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"c-video__image\" alt=\"Click to play video: 'Timelapse of sea sponge \u2018Belinda\u2019 sneezing, hibernating and changing off coast of Vancouver Island'\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" data-src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/media.globalnews.ca\/videostatic\/news\/3lx7ltq6ve-oiw3pmu54u\/sea_sponge_2.jpg?w=1040&amp;quality=70&amp;strip=all\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"\" sizes=\"auto, \" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/media.globalnews.ca\/videostatic\/news\/3lx7ltq6ve-oiw3pmu54u\/sea_sponge_2.jpg?quality=70&amp;strip=all&amp;w=450 450w,https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/media.globalnews.ca\/videostatic\/news\/3lx7ltq6ve-oiw3pmu54u\/sea_sponge_2.jpg?quality=70&amp;strip=all&amp;w=720 720w,https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/media.globalnews.ca\/videostatic\/news\/3lx7ltq6ve-oiw3pmu54u\/sea_sponge_2.jpg?quality=70&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1040 1040w,\" data-sizes=\"(min-width: 1040px) 1040px,(min-width: 720px) 720px,450px\"\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-video__overlay\"><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<time class=\"c-video__duration\">2:01<\/time><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-video__title\">Timelapse of sea sponge \u2018Belinda\u2019 sneezing, hibernating and changing off coast of Vancouver Island<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Using specialized equipment and breathing different gases, divers can maximize their bottom time, but when the training ends, the search begins.<\/p>\n<div class=\"c-tabs\">\n<p>\n\t\t\t<button role=\"tab\" class=\"c-tabs__tab c-tabs__tab--active\" type=\"button\">More on Environment<\/button><br \/>\n\t\t\t<button role=\"tab\" class=\"c-tabs__tab\" type=\"button\">More videos<\/button>\n\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"c-ad c-ad--bigbox l-article__ad\">\n<p>Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Swan documented his dive, sharing the rare footage on his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@beseaadventures\/videos\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">YouTube channel Be Sea Adventures<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"c-inlineSignup\" data-newsletter-inline=\"\">\n<div class=\"c-inlineSignup__image\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"170\" height=\"225\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/wp-content\/themes\/shaw-globalnews\/images\/skyline\/national.jpg\" alt=\"Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you'll never miss the day's top stories.\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"c-inlineSignup__content\">\n<h2 class=\"c-inlineSignup__title\">Get daily National news<\/h2>\n<p>Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you&#8217;ll never miss the day&#8217;s top stories.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cI want to really show scuba diving to the fullest and show what sea creatures are down there and how important they might be to the ecosystems,\u201d Swan said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCloud sponges are a type of glass sponge. While fragile and incredibly vulnerable to things like anchors and prawn traps, they play a key role, filtering nutrients and maintaining the ocean\u2019s balance. These species are an indicator species, so it\u2019s about protecting the ecosystem that they support and the water quality that they support.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Which is exactly why Swan plans to continue sharing his dives.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf I can inspire people to get into scuba diving or inspire scientists or people to make better protection efforts, even if it\u2019s just one person, then I think we\u2019re making a difference with Be Sea Adventures,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>\n\t\t&amp;copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/news\/11758667\/ancient-cloud-sponge-bc-waters\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Descrease article font size Increase article font size A B.C. diver has made an extraordinary discovery beneath the waters of Saanich Inlet. Ancient cloud sponges were&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40376,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-north-america"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/40376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}