DISCOVERY ‘69: THE SPONGE FISHERMEN

[Music] this is the sponge fishing vessel column nose just back from a two-week voyage in the gulf of mexico and loaded with a 5 000 cargo pulled from the bottom of the sea we'll find out more about these primitive forms of marine life and how they've become the basis for a way of life that dates back more than 2 000 years today when discovery explores the unusual and exciting world of the sponge fishermen discovery 69 the award-winning program for young people with bill owen and virginia gibson [Music] hi and welcome to discovery these are the sponge fishing docks of tarpon springs florida on the anclote river just a few hundred yards from the gulf of mexico bill it is florida and we are in the gulf of mexico but when you look at the activity and listen to the sounds of this particular part of town you might well imagine yourself in another part of the world and it wouldn't be too hard to figure out where the language is greek many of the boat names are greek [Music] the signs around town speak of a greek heritage [Music] and so do many of the faces along dotakanese boulevard there's the mayor of tarpon springs george tarakis whose family is still in the sponge fishing business [Music] [Applause] and there's the greek orthodox priest father coloriotis the crew of the columnists and all of the other sponge boats for that matter is equally greek the captain back there near the helm is john mayilis who came here originally as a sponge diver that's john bootsouzanes the lifeline tender when the boat is out at sea but who like everyone else on board pitches in with the processing when the sponges are brought to the dog and that's mike nicholaw he's the cook aboard the columnist but he's equally adept at cleaning sponges these men were born in greece although you don't necessarily have to be greek to be a sponge fisherman william walker was born in alabama and he's obviously not greek still he's one of the best sponge fishermen around and he speaks the greek language almost as well as his shipmates who came from abroad why did captain myelis john bootsuit saunas and mike nicolas william walker all come together in a small picturesque town halfway up the west coast of florida well the answer is that out there in the gulf of mexico are more than 9 000 square miles of sponge yielding bottom there are sponges as far as the eye can see there are wool sponges yellow sponges grass sponges and miles and miles of beautiful sponges with no commercial value at all the ancient greek name for sponges was zoapitan which meant half plant and half animal but today marine biologists classify all sponges as animals in the lowest order of multi-celled organisms most of the sponges brought back by the crew today are wool sponges these are the ones that are most in demand and will bring the best price anywhere from 85 cents to a dollar for a good sponge at the wholesale auction sponges like these are used in all kinds of industries for wiping and cleaning expensive equipment they're used by professional window washers and with clean thousands of windows and they're used by hospitals because they're far more durable and absorbent than most synthetic sponges sponges are harvested in two ways either hooked on the bottom by men working on the surface with pronged rake-like tools like this one or else by going down in diving suits and helmets like this and picking the sponges from the bottom of the golf hookers can work in water up to 30 feet in depth especially if the water is clear enough to see the bottom the hookers work with a mother ship and a dinghy moving along the flats and peering at the ocean floor through a glass bottom barrel [Music] then when they see a sponge they reach down with a long hook pry it loose and bring it to the surface hooking works well in shallow water but for the larger better quality sponges it's frequently necessary to go out as far as 35 or 40 miles into the water and to work at depths of 80 or 100 feet this is where diving boats are used and we're experienced divers work their highly specialized trade the crew will go out for two to three weeks at a time and they'll gather as many as 400 sponges in a good day it's an exciting sometimes dangerous life where the difference between success and failure depends upon knowing where the sponges are and the unpredictable nature of the sea itself the life of a sponge fisherman can be highly rewarding or highly precarious but it's the life that these men have chosen and it's the one that they know best we'll be going along with them on their next voyage into the gulf and we'll take a first-hand look at what a sponge fisherman's life is like on deck and beneath the sea we'll do all that in just a minute [Music] this is a sponge boat independent like the elainey the poppy and the other boats here she's a traditional sponge boat designed built and manned by men whose roots are deep in the sponge fishing business and although captain george toured us and his crew have been putting out to see as far back as any of them can remember there's still a feeling of excitement and anticipation each time a new journey begins there are six men in the crew but no one is paid a regular salary each gets a share a portion of the profits from the sale of the sponges the captain if he also owns the boat may get two shares each diver because of his special skills may get one and a half shares a successful voyage might mean as much as 750 to a thousand dollars for each man or a week or two of bad weather or choppy seas might mean coming back empty-handed now everything's ready and the journey begins the boat moves from the sponge docks out into the ankle river and toward the open gulf as the independent approaches the mouth of the river the men prepare for the days ahead [Music] captain hurdus the master of the independent has been making these voyages for 40 years ever since he came from greece at the age of 22. there's nick skills one of the two divers he's from greece too and has been diving since childhood he's considered one of the best around the other diver is mike halpen he was born here and is the only non-greek diver at work along the waterfront for fun and to supplement his income he wrestles alligators the engineer and helmsman is pete mcrenaris he came from greece over 40 years ago and has worked in the sponge fleet ever since william walker is the regular deckhand on the independent he's been on the waterfront for 30 years and knows the sponge business as well as anyone around the newcomer to the crew is 73 year old demetrius cruz who came from greece less than three months ago he's the cook aboard the independent and since eating is one of the few pleasures the men can enjoy at sea a good cook is worth his weight in gold demetrius is a good cook most of the living and working is done above deck the hold is used for sleeping and there is very little room to turn around cooking and eating are also done on deck [Music] captain hurdus moves the boat out into the open water this time to an area 35 miles offshore once he reaches an area where he thinks there might be sponges he uses a lead sounding weight to test the bottom he puts a few nicks in the weight with a hatchet fills the mix with laundry soap and then drops it to the bottom if it comes up sandy the indication is that there might not be too many sponges around since sponges adhere to rock or coral but if the soap comes up encrusted with shell or coral it could be a good area to try their luck [Music] the divers alternate in going down and each one stays on the bottom for about two hours at a time now it's nick skilles's turn captain hurdus and deckhand william walker help him get ready the diving suit itself is a soft rubberized material lined with nylon it weighs 20 pounds especially built brass tip shoes weigh 12 and a half pounds each the brass plate to which the helmet is attached weighs 22 pounds the helmet itself 40 pounds in addition two lead weights weighing 35 pounds each are placed front and back the entire suit now weighs 177 pounds and is designed to keep the diver firmly on the bottom in depths up to 150 feet [Music] once the diver reaches bottom he begins to collect sponges using a short-handled hook and placing the sponges in a rope bag [Music] when the bag is filled he signals on the lifeline the bag is pulled up and an empty one is sent down the diver sends back from 25 to 40 sponges at a time and on a particularly good dive he may fill as many as four or five bags before he returns to the boat [Music] the boat itself may average from 250 to 400 sponges in a normal day or more if everything goes well when nick skills returns it's mike halpin's turn and so it goes throughout the day [Music] foreign now the day is over at sea the days are long but so are the nights most of these men have known each other for a long time and there isn't too much new to talk about dinner the evening meal is a time to eat and a time to relax [Music] then it's time for bed either out on the open deck when the weather is good or in the crowded hole below when the nights are cold or damp the next morning the men are up at dawn the morning sky is pink the sea is calm and another day of sponge fishing has begun this is the way it'll be for the next 10 to 14 days until literally every available corner of the deck is piled high with sponges we'll take a look at what happens on the busy day the ship returns to port and we'll see the bustle and excitement of a sponge auction in action and we'll do that in just a [Music] minute after two weeks at sea and with her decks laden with sponges the independent returns to her homeport there are other ships back in port too although there's never a definite day for coming back it's either when the decks are filled or else when weather or lack of sponges has forced the ship to return with less than a full load on the ships that have already returned the crews are cleaning the last of the sponges there's still one man short on the columnist so william walker pitches in to help sometimes when the independent is undermanned someone from the columnist may return the favor in the time since the sponges were pulled from the bottom much of the animal matter called guri has already decomposed now the men wash them pound them and scrape them to get rid of the rest of the decomposed material what's left the sponge we use is actually a soft fibrous skeletal structure [Music] the last of the hall is hung up to dry [Music] once the sponges have dried in the bright florida sun they're taken across the street to a cooperative warehouse maintained by the fishermen here nick cerutus an expert who works for the cooperative sorts them for quality and size the crews watch nick closely the better the sponges the higher the quality the more they'll bring at the auction then before the sponges are put into storage bins to await the auction they're threaded on a strong cord exactly 58 inches in length and tied into a wreath all of the sponges on the wreath will be of about the same size and shape and each wreath will contain from 10 to 20 sponges depending on their size the best sponges are those with a short dense nap and free of hook marks crab holes or tears the sponge auctions are held on tuesdays and fridays assuming that enough sponges have been brought in to make an auction worthwhile the talk is mostly in greek although the auctioneer mr george clodakis conducts the auction in english once the buyer has examined the sponges he writes his offer on a slip of paper and hands it to the auctioneer then the highest bidder is announced the buyer then removes his sponges to a nearby packing house where a skilled worker like robert richardson cuts them loose breaks off whatever bits of rock or coral might still be attached trims them to remove any roughness and then dries them in the sun once more [Music] later they're packed in bales that weigh from 40 to 50 pounds and shipped off to their destinations around the world [Music] if sponge fishing is a declining business it is by no means dead the men along these docks have always made their living by harvesting the sponge flats and they intend to go on doing so except that now jenny the new blood has to come from somewhere else the children of the sponge fishermen don't go into sponge fishing they like the second generation of so many ethnic groups throughout the country go on to college and become doctors lawyers teachers and businessmen and so as it has since the 1890s the sponge fishing industry has to reach back to greece to its ancestral home and periodically bring to these shores some of the younger sponge fishermen who learned their craft in the bright waters of the mediterranean or the aegean but whether they're old-timers or relative newcomers who are not even greek at all they'll continue going out to sea gathering sponges and bringing them to shore [Music] all of them have helped carve a way of life which has endured regardless of wind weather or the changes of time we'll be back in just a minute we hope you've enjoyed today's program about the sponge fishermen of the gulf of mexico and if you'd like to find out more about sponge fishing and the gulf of mexico then ask your librarian for any of these books the luck of the golden cross by catherine vinson the c for sam by w maxwell reed and wilford s bronson and this book sea and shore by clarence j highlander and don't forget to be with us next week for another exciting program as discovery continues to discover the world see you then bye bye the discovery unit's transportation and promotional consideration provided by united airlines [Music] this has been a jules power production in association with abc news