THE COMMERCIAL SPONGES AND THE SPONGE FISHERIES. . 439 
bringing it up. Even with this assistance the strain on the hooker is great, 
and in working in depths of 40 feet or more cases of hernia and similar injury 
are not infrequent even among strong men. The currents are often strong 
even when the sea appears calmest, and the slender, flexible poles bend and 
sway so that the greatest skill and strength are required to direct and insert 
the hooks. Should the current carry, the hooks away from the sponge it is 
often impossible to force them back, and they have to be brought to the surface 
for a fresh effort. 
Cloudy water brought from the swamps by the streams on adjacent shores, 
and milky water due.to the stirring up of the sand and calcareous marls of the 
bottom, are the greatest impediments to this method of sponging, and the 
skill and experience of the hooker are largely exercised in seeing and recog- 
nizing the more valuable species under these adverse conditions. The tyro 
after very little practice can hook sponges in clear shallow water, but in depths 
of 15 feet when the water was somewhat roily I have seen one man catch eight 
times as many as another on the same bar, owing to his superior eyesight, the 
two men not differing greatly in the length of their experience as spongers. 
In deep water—that is, in depths over 38 or 40 feet—probably not more 
than one-third of the hookers have sufficient strength, keenness of sight, and 
skill with the pole to work successfully. In consequence of this and the fact 
that only when the water is exceptionally clear can the sponges be seen at all 
in the greater depths, most of the hooking is carried on in less than 6 fathoms, 
and the inshore grounds have been the first, therefore, to become depleted. 
As a general rule the sheepswool sponge is now more abundant outside than 
inside the 6-fathom curve, and it is practically commercially extinct in the 
waters close to shore where it formerly abounded. Experienced captains, 
therefore, are in the habit of running offshore from time to time to “take a 
sight; that is, to look for bottom with their water glasses, well knowing that 
if the water be clear and other conditions favorable, they can probably take 
more sponges in a day than they could in a week on the overworked inshore 
grounds. The spongers state that while the surface water may be clear the 
lower stratum is often turbid from the bottom materials stirred up by the 
swinging motion generally observed in the deeper waters of the Bay grounds. 
If all the conditions be favorable, which is rare, the harvest is rich for those 
who can stand the arduous deep-water work. In the summer of 1903 an 
unusual condition prevailed in the deep water off the Rock Island region, where 
the water was clear and the weather favorable for a continuous period of many 
weeks. This gave the hookers access to bars in depths as great as 45 to 48 
feet, which had rarely, if ever, been worked, and the result was a heavy catch 
of large, fine, perfect sponges of the best quality, which brought a good price 
in the markets. There has been no recurrence of this good fortune. 
