Sponges: The Keys to the Keys

An informational factsheet from Florida Sea Grant detailing sponge restoration efforts in the Florida Keys.

The top banner is teal with a water-droplet pattern. It features the “Florida Sea Grant” logo on the left with the tagline “Science Serving Florida’s Coast,” and the “Sea Grant Florida” logo on the right.

The main title reads “Sponges: The Keys to the Keys,” followed by a subtitle explaining that researchers and volunteers are working to restore lost sponge habitats due to widespread die-offs.

The text content is organized into columns with several section headers:
– A highlighted teal introductory paragraph poses the question, “Where have all the sponges gone?” and explains that harmful algal blooms have decimated sponge populations in Florida Bay and the Keys. It introduces Florida Sea Grant-funded research testing transplant techniques.
– Subsequent sections ask and answer “Who?”, “What?”, “When?”, “Where?”, and “Why?”. They detail a collaborative team of 40 volunteers, the biological role of sponges in cycling food resources, historical blooms in the 1990s, 2007, and 2013, and a 500-square-kilometer restoration study area.

The right side of the document features three stacked visual assets:
1. A photograph showing a bulbous, dark brown “healthy loggerhead sponge” resting on the seafloor.
2. A photograph showing a decayed, grayish-white “loggerhead sponge after a die-off.”
3. a map box labeled “Area of Enlargement” illustrating the Florida Keys coastline. The map uses symbols to highlight “Phase 1 Sponge Restoration Sites” and “Phase 2 Sponge Transplant Locations” divided by low-density, control, and high-density zones.

The dark blue footer provides contact information, including the Florida Sea Grant College Program address in Gainesville, Florida, a phone number, and the URL www.flseagrant.org.