# How much deeper would the ocean be if sponges didn't grow in it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 31, 2015, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-deeper-would-the-ocean-be-if-sponges-didnt-grow-in-it/729528 "2015-08-31T19:40:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JimNightshade](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jimnightshade/32/3354_2.png) [@JimNightshade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimNightshade)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-deeper-would-the-ocean-be-if-sponges-didnt-grow-in-it/729528/1 "2015-08-31T19:40:03Z")
It seems to me that sponges could save us from global warming - just breed a bunch of them and problem solved! Or is it more complicated than that? ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-deeper-would-the-ocean-be-if-sponges-didnt-grow-in-it/729528/2 "2015-08-31T19:44:30Z")
If all the world’s sponges (the sea animal, not the household cleaning item) were beamed at once into deep space, the oceans would actually get just a tad lower. Sponges do displace their own volume in water. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-deeper-would-the-ocean-be-if-sponges-didnt-grow-in-it/729528/3 "2015-08-31T19:45:58Z")
Why would the oceans be deeper without sponges? How do they help solve global warming? Do you think that sponges absorb water and magically reduce the volume of that water? ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-deeper-would-the-ocean-be-if-sponges-didnt-grow-in-it/729528/4 "2015-08-31T19:47:36Z")
A sponge does not actually reduce the volume of water. Sponges on land seem to reduce the amount of water spilled on a surface by absorbing some water into its own structure, but that water still exists and has the same volume. In the ocean, the sponge would already be saturated and wouldn’t absorb anything. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-deeper-would-the-ocean-be-if-sponges-didnt-grow-in-it/729528/5 "2015-08-31T19:51:03Z")
Previous thread on this question/joke: > **[Without sponges](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=365374)** > > In this week’s column, Cecil is asked (and is still thinking about) “How much deeper would the ocean be without sponges?” That’s an old joke. Besides, take something out of the ocean and it’s going to be less deep, not more. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-deeper-would-the-ocean-be-if-sponges-didnt-grow-in-it/729528/6 "2015-08-31T21:56:16Z")
Personally, I have a hard time even comprehending the mindset that would make this question meaningful. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-deeper-would-the-ocean-be-if-sponges-didnt-grow-in-it/729528/7 "2015-08-31T21:58:23Z")
I think sponges might make like, what, 0.0000000000000000000001% of a difference? The ocean is **deep**. And contains an almost incomprehensibly vast quantity of water. I’m not attacking the OP, just pointing out that sponges make virtually no difference. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-deeper-would-the-ocean-be-if-sponges-didnt-grow-in-it/729528/8 "2015-08-31T21:58:32Z")
It’s a standup comedian’s joke from the 1980s or so. Steven Wright perhaps. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-deeper-would-the-ocean-be-if-sponges-didnt-grow-in-it/729528/9 "2015-08-31T22:00:52Z")
Related question… How much deeper thinkers would we be if our minds didn’t absorb everything like a sponge? ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-deeper-would-the-ocean-be-if-sponges-didnt-grow-in-it/729528/10 "2015-08-31T22:06:13Z")
It’s at about the same level as building a pipeline to carry water from Lake Superior to the California San Joaquin Valley, or building nuclear fission plants on every body of water to product hydrogen via electrolysis to support the “hydrogen economy”. They all fall along the lines of, “I have this idea that is completely unworkable and will utterly fail to address the actual problem I’ve proposed to resolve; prove to me why it won’t work.” The subsequent discussions are rarely fruitful, and the participants that bring in actual facts and experience are often castigated for their “lack of imagination”, “negativity”, et cetera, ad nauseam. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-deeper-would-the-ocean-be-if-sponges-didnt-grow-in-it/729528/11 "2015-08-31T22:24:32Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Personally, I have a hard time even comprehending the mindset that would make this question meaningful. > [@Mangetout](#): > > It’s a standup comedian’s joke from the 1980s or so. Steven Wright perhaps. Emo Phillips, I think. Or Jack Handy. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-deeper-would-the-ocean-be-if-sponges-didnt-grow-in-it/729528/12 "2015-08-31T22:29:35Z")
I figured out a way to land on the sun without burning up. We go there at night! ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-deeper-would-the-ocean-be-if-sponges-didnt-grow-in-it/729528/13 "2015-08-31T22:55:47Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I figured out a way to land on the sun without burning up. We go there at night! Is that you, Bill Dana? ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-deeper-would-the-ocean-be-if-sponges-didnt-grow-in-it/729528/14 "2015-09-01T00:49:03Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > It’s at about the same level as building a pipeline to carry water from Lake Superior to the California San Joaquin Valley . . .r I believe you are thinking of [Lyndon LaRouche](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaRouche_movement), and the starting point was meant to be in Alaska. Yep. It’s right up there with [building a 700-mile wall between the US and Mexico](http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2006/10/20061026-1.html). [Oh, wait, no, make that a double-layer wall the full length of the US/Mexico border with surveillance and boots on the ground.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/transcript-ted-cruzs-speech-at-liberty-university/2015/03/23/41c4011a-d168-11e4-a62f-ee745911a4ff_story.html)[And getting Mexico to pay for it.](http://fortune.com/2015/08/17/donald-trumps-plan-to-pay-for-mexico-wall-has-a-tech-problem/)[Or even, a wall the length of the US/Canada border.](http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/walker-eyes-border-wall-the-other-border) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-deeper-would-the-ocean-be-if-sponges-didnt-grow-in-it/729528/15 "2015-09-01T01:29:05Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > It’s at about the same level as building a pipeline to carry water from Lake Superior to the California San Joaquin Valley > [@TruCelt](#): > > I believe you are thinking of [Lyndon LaRouche](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaRouche_movement), and the starting point was meant to be in Alaska. It isn’t just a wild-eyed LaRouche idea. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=2854695](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=2854695) > **[Can America shake off its defeatist attitude before its too late?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=755088)** > > I’ve been reading about the California drought and getting disgusted at the hand wringing and lack of decisive leadership. Instead of attacking the problem they’re talking about rationing. The state’s vital farming business are the current whipping... > **[water](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=751934)** > > This has really started to bother me recently. Maybe it is just neurosis, anxiety and/or paranoia, but where I live, we have been seeing weeks of unusually dry weather. Our snowpack, that feeds our rivers, is below 10% in some major areas, which... It’s a wild-eyed DOPER idea, as well! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-deeper-would-the-ocean-be-if-sponges-didnt-grow-in-it/729528/16 "2015-09-01T01:33:25Z")
Yeah, I know it’s an old comedian’s joke (and I think it was Jack Handy), but that still doesn’t change the fact that, for the joke to work, it has to make sense. ---
**Author:** ![Ornery\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/da6949/32.png) [@Ornery\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ornery_Bob)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-deeper-would-the-ocean-be-if-sponges-didnt-grow-in-it/729528/17 "2015-09-01T03:06:16Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Yeah, I know it’s an old comedian’s joke (and I think it was Jack Handy), but that still doesn’t change the fact that, for the joke to work, it has to make sense. It makes perfect sense. Sponges soak up water so they must be soaking up the ocean if that’s where they live. Therefore the ocean would have more water if the sponges weren’t soaking it up. It’s funny because it’s stupid. Kinda like certain politicians. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-deeper-would-the-ocean-be-if-sponges-didnt-grow-in-it/729528/18 "2015-09-01T10:32:39Z")
Would sea levels fall if you took all the ships out? Why does everyone talk about Antarctic Ice? Isn’t the ice at the North pole melting too? Questions that my niece, aged 10, asked last year. I thought they demonstrated a good level of perspicacity for her age. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-deeper-would-the-ocean-be-if-sponges-didnt-grow-in-it/729528/19 "2015-09-01T11:15:33Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > Would sea levels fall if you took all the ships out? … As you’d expect of any good precocious kid question, xkcd has this covered: [Ships](http://what-if.xkcd.com/33/) With a bonus section about sponges. If xkcd’s author was as good at predicting the stock market as he is at predicting Dope threads he’d own the damn planet by now. Which would probably be a huge improvement over the current owners. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-deeper-would-the-ocean-be-if-sponges-didnt-grow-in-it/729528/20 "2015-09-01T13:17:35Z")
That depends on what hat he’s currently wearing. And I still maintain that the question is nonsensical, in a way that (say) the pipeline from the Great Lakes to California isn’t. One can envision such a pipeline, and if actually built, it could be made to work. It’d be insanely expensive and wholly impractical, but it makes _sense_. But putting sponges in the ocean does _nothing_. Taking sponges out of the ocean would do something, and would make sense in a pipeline sort of way, but that’s not what the question is asking. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-deeper-would-the-ocean-be-if-sponges-didnt-grow-in-it/729528.md?page=2)