Tarpon Springs - Sponge Capital of the World

[Sadsack]

Here is an excerpt from: Tarpon Springs, Sponge Capital of the World

My comments are at the bottom.


For generations Greek fisherman from Tarpon Springs have harvested sponges from the Gulf of Mexico, creating a thriving industry and earning the busy little fishing town the title of Sponge Capital of the World.
Though sponges were being harvested from nearby waters since the mid-1800s, local people say the Tarpon Spring sponge industry began on June 18, 1905. Prior to that, sponge fishermen from Cuba, the Bahamas, and Key West used small boats and glass bottomed buckets to spear sponges or used long poles to pull them lose from shallow waters. They would haul their catches to shore to dry them, then loaded them back on boats to take home and sell.
One day John Cheney, a banker from Philadelphia, stood on the docks at Key West watching spongers unload their cargo and recognized an opportunity. He built warehouses at Tarpon Springs and it soon became the leading market for the sponge fishermen to sell their catches.
Demosthenes Kavasilas and Stylianos Besis, Greek sponge divers from the Mediterranean Sea were the first to dive for sponges in the Gulf, and were amazed at what they discovered. An underwater wonderland where hundreds of fish of every kind swam through thousands of corals of every color and shape, multi-colored peacock feathers of the sea in lavish natural underwater gardens. And sponges. Thousands and thousands of sponges. Vast acres of sponges just waiting to be harvested. On that first excursion the divers sent up baskets filled with sponges every ten minutes. By the end of the day the boat was filled with wool sponges, the best and sturdiest sponges in the world. An underwater treasure had been found that would rival any pirate’s sunken ever dreamed of.
With the success of that first harvest, the call went out for more boats and more divers. Advertisements in Greece brought 500 young divers by the end of 1905. Among the early leaders of the industry was John Cocoris, the first Greek to move to Tarpon Springs permanently. He and his brothers set up an operation using a boat they christened Hope, outfitted it with the most up to date equipment, and set out to sea on June 18, 1905. Using hard hat diving suits and lifelines to supply oxygen to the men working underwater, Hope began working the deep water where earlier spongers were not equipped to venture.
Their success was immediate, and soon the word had spread. Greek sponge fishermen flocked into Tarpon Springs, whole fleets of fishing ships came from the Mediterranean to get in on the action. Many of those first spongers were single men, or those who left their families behind while they came to make their fortunes. Many took the money they made and returned home, but others stayed on to make a new life in this new land, and soon their families followed. With them came a strong Greek heritage and traditions. Greek restaurants, coffee houses, taverns and groceries opened and the little fishing port became a busy place.
Traders came to the Sponge Exchange from all over the world to participate in twice-weekly auctions, and both the traders and fishermen prospered. For decades the sponge industry thrived, and Tarpon Springs thrived along with it. Things began to change in the 1940s with the development of synthetic sponges, along with a marine bacteria that began to destroy the sponge beds. The sponge industry went into a nosedive that took four decades to recover from. Things began to turn around in 1985 when Hurricane Elena ripped through the area. Following the storm, the sponge beds mysteriously began to produce again. About the same time the Tarpon Springs sponge beds began to come back to life, the sponge industry in the Mediterranean Sea began to fail due to pollution. These days about 85 percent of the Tarpon Springs sponge harvest supplies the European market.
Sponge boats from the Tarpon Springs fleet travel as far as 125 miles into the Gulf of Mexico, where divers harvest sponges as deep as 150 feet. It is not uncommon for a boat to bring in $12,000 worth of sponges on a typical trip, and the crew works on shares, their percentage based on their jobs and seniority.
Over time the equipment has changed. The boats are bigger and better equipped, and modern scuba equipment has replaced the old time hard hats and air lines divers once used. These days the sponge industry is faced with a new problem. Not a shortage of sponges to be harvested, but rather a shortage of qualified divers. Local men have found other opportunities that pay better with less danger. Lately sponge boats have had to hire divers from Greece again, in a return to earlier days when young men crossed the ocean to work the Gulf of Mexico.

OK - Here's my commentary, which I'm sure you have already figured out.
If thousands of pounds of sponges have been harvested by divers for 150 years, why does Morgellons go back only 60 years - TOPS? The "Sponge Docks" have store after store selling every kind of sponge imaginable. There are warehouses full of them! Indeed, the main economy of Tarpon Springs centered around sponging for decades.
If sponges were responsible for Morgellons, THIS would be "ground zero" and it would be a virtual epidemic in this town for over 100 years. Afterall, wouldn't "getting" Morgellons require having contact with the pathogen? And if that much contact occurred, wouldn't the whole town be affected?
What DOES seem to be the most heavily infected area is right near Silicon Valley...
The first cases of Lyme Disease showed up on the CT shoreline...made sense to look for the CAUSE of it in that area. The same should apply with Morgellons.

SS

[weredIgo]

Hi Sadsack,
Is that right, is Silicon Valley some kind of hot bed for morgellons? I didn't know that.

C

[Sadsack]

Claudia -

Silicon Valley is the southern part of the San Francisco Bay area in Northern Calif.

That is part of the geographical area selected for the CDC/K-P study due to its high density of cases.

The "Bay Area" is often considered the site of the first concentration of cases. Of course, tracking "the first case" is an impossibility at this point.

"Singularity University" is also located near there.

To learn more about "Singularity", go to:

Blogging the Singularity

and you may very well find the clues to what Morgellons is.

SS

[Steve Frey]

Is that the best criticism you can come up with sack? You've got to be able to do better than that.

First of all, take a look at the map of florida at morgellons.org and look at how many cases of morgellons there are surrounding Tarpon Springs, go ahead and look, more than anywhere in the state, and by the way Florida is a hot spot.

Second, who says morgellons only goes back 60 years, where on earth did you get that info?

Finally, let's discuss where sponge diving got it's origin, Italy, where is Rome, Italy, what happened to Rome that nobody knows the cause of, the fall of the Roman Empire. Did you know that during the fall of the Roman Empire the rich died before the poor? What on earth would have caused the rich to die before the poor? Maybe something the rich were using that the poor were not, sponges perhaps, they were a luxury you know. Gout is caused by excess uric acid, Gout is referred to as "the kings disease" because the Kings of Rome got it a lot, do you know what the sponge's primary excrement is? Well let me tell you, it's uric acid. Now just picture those Kings of Rome being bathed every day head to toe with sponges, yes sponges that were a luxury and surely used daily by the Kings. I don't know but this idea sure sounds plausible to me.

I'll be waiting for the next round sack, but please come up with something better than this okay, challenge me a little will ya.

[Sadsack]

It speaks for itself. TARPON SPRINGS should be the epicenter. Not a single case.

Period.

So the Roman Empire fell because they all had Morgellons from washing their feet with sponges? Do you see even a trace of lunacy in what you are proposing?

SS

PS - Steve - why do you always resort to personal attacks and ridicule when holes in your "theory" are clearly exposed? You've been doing that for years, here and at LB, and all that has accomplished for you is to identify yourself as an unreasonable and difficult man.
btw - you can take the last shot, unless you propose a counter-argument that is reasonable. Otherwise I'm staying out of any further discussions.

[Steve Frey]

Where is the personal attack Sack, how and in what way did I personally attack you, and how did you come to the conclussion that there is only a single case of morgellons surrounding Tarpon Springs, you don't make any sense.

[dragonfly2]

I live an hour north of Tarpon and you guys know how terribly I had and still have this crap!

[jonsi]

I just want to add that I live at 7,500 ft elevation in northern New Mexico. Not that I live in a "hot-spot", but I know 10+ people personally who have "M" and live within 50 miles of my home. Most of us have lived here most of our lives.

I think aerosols Aerosol Crimes , lymes (man made vector spread to any insect), and the GMO foods all contribute to "M". Nano nano

Ya'll keep me on my toes by providing info that piques my interest.

Hope you are doing better dragonfly2.

Itwl,
~jonsi

[weredIgo]

Hi Guys,
I live in FLA. and know that FLA.,CAL. AND TEX. are hot spots. I really do need to look at a map of the hot spots within each state. Sorry didn't mean to ask a stupid question.

Claudia

[Kritters]

Originally Posted by weredIgo

Hi Guys,
I live in FLA. and know that FLA.,CAL. AND TEX. are hot spots. I really do need to look at a map of the hot spots within each state. Sorry didn't mean to ask a stupid question.

Claudia

Hi Claudia,
there ARE NO stupid questions. My question is WHAT made these States 'hot spots'? Clearly, the heat has spread from the States to other countries.

Kritters