A study into the behaviour of a sea sponge off the coast of British Columbia has revealed the animals have the humanlike ability to sneeze.

Researcher Sally Leys said her team examined footage captured over a span of four years by eight cameras installed on the sea floor by Ocean Networks Canada in an effort to study the spongeB次元官网网址檚 response to the changing climate and weather patterns.

She said they observed the sponge performing regular B次元官网网址渟neeze-likeB次元官网网址� contractions lasting upwards of a day at a time to clear debris that accumulated while it was filter feeding.

B次元官网网址淚f you put dirt onto the sponge B次元官网网址� itB次元官网网址檚 an irritant to the system, and it has to get rid of it, so it wraps it up in mucus, and it pumps it through and out it goes,B次元官网网址� she said in an interview. B次元官网网址淏ut itB次元官网网址檚 a slow sneeze.B次元官网网址�

Leys said the smaller the sponge, the quicker the sneeze.

B次元官网网址淎 little, tiny sponge B次元官网网址� theyB次元官网网址檙e about an hour, maybe 40 minutes, for a sneeze, and then for Belinda, itB次元官网网址檚 like a day.B次元官网网址�

Belinda was the nickname researchers gave to the sea sponge they focused their study on, which Leys noted is about the size of a fist.

She said it was B次元官网网址渁 pretty active critter,B次元官网网址� although if a diver went down to view the sponges in their natural habitat B次元官网网址� like a plant in the garden B次元官网网址� it would seem unmoving.

Long-term monitoring of the animals proved otherwise, she said.

B次元官网网址淚 was blown away of how active it was,B次元官网网址� Leys said. B次元官网网址淭his thing was bouncing up and down, and doing all kinds of things.B次元官网网址�

Leys, who is a professor in the faculty of science at the University of Alberta, said the experiment tracked the animal over daily, yearly and seasonal changes in shape, colour and size.

Hundreds of hours of video was collected between 2012 and 2015 from the research site about 25 metres under the surface off the Vancouver Island coast. Leys said researchers then spent the next decade analyzing the data.

The study, recently published in Marine Ecology Progress Series, highlighted the sea spongeB次元官网网址檚 response to its changing environment, she said.

Leys said she was B次元官网网址渕ost surprisedB次元官网网址� by the spongeB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址渁nnual behaviour.B次元官网网址�

She said the sponge contracted to half its size, and entered a dormant state during winter months, despite lacking muscles and a nervous system.

B次元官网网址淚t suggests the mechanism doesnB次元官网网址檛 require nerves to withdraw. Once you stop feeding, once thereB次元官网网址檚 less food, thereB次元官网网址檚 sort of an innate response,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淭he really interesting question (is) how this animal reduces its activity in response to less food by becoming smaller.B次元官网网址�

The study said the sneezing behaviour was observed during the summer months, when phytoplankton blooms increased particulates in the water as the sponge regained its shape.

Ley said studying behaviours will allow researchers to better understand how sponges respond to changes in their environments.

This study marks the longest continuous recording of the animals in the wild.

Although the camera array was removed in 2015 with the conclusion of the project, Leys said divers have confirmed as recently as two months ago that Belinda remains at the site, and is healthy and back to its original colour.

Leys said she is hopeful that researchers will reinstall the cameras to continue the study as ongoing monitoring could reveal even more about how sea sponges respond to changing ocean conditions.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檇 like to see 10 years of dormancy, then we would be completely sure of this pattern that goes on,B次元官网网址� she said.

B次元官网网址淚 think that having cameras back down there would allow us to really get a long-term view of why itB次元官网网址檚 undergoing these different kinds of behaviours, whether they are very predictable, and I think, in the long run, it would allow us to understand whether it correlates with changes that we see in the bigger picture of the ocean.B次元官网网址�