{"id":110033,"date":"2025-11-20T16:13:28","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T16:13:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/?p=110033"},"modified":"2025-11-20T19:14:25","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T19:14:25","slug":"carnivorous-death-ball-sponge-found-in-antarctic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/carnivorous-death-ball-sponge-found-in-antarctic\/","title":{"rendered":"Carnivorous &#8216;Death Ball&#8217; Sponge Found in Antarctic"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Researchers have recently uncovered at least 30 unknown deep-sea species around Antarctica. These include a bizarre carnivorous sponge they nicknamed the \u201cdeath ball.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Two different vessels explored volcanic calderas, the South Sandwich Trench, and the seafloor around Montagu and Saunders Islands.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_110037\" style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-110037\" class=\"size-full wp-image-110037\" src=\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1-Schmidt-Ocean-Institute-RV-Falkor-too-Paul-Satchell_The-Nippon-Foundation-Nekton-Ocean-Census_Schmidt-Ocean-Institute-\u00a9-202-e1763102931864.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-110037\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The research vessel &#8216;Falkor (too).&#8217; Photo: Paul Satchell\/The Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census\/Schmidt Ocean Institute<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Southern Ocean is one of the most poorly studied bodies of water on Earth, and new discoveries are not surprising. Just north of Montagu Island, some 3.5 kilometers below the surface, researchers encountered a<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> bizarre-looking sponge with white stalks tipped with what looks like ping pong balls, and covered in microscopic hooks. <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The new sponge is carnivorous. Any small creature unlucky enough to brush against it<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">mostly tiny crustaceans<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">is snared by <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">the<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> hooks and slowly absorbed.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>A horrible way to go<\/h2>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cThey\u2019re doomed, unfortunately,\u201d said Michelle Taylor from the University of Essex, who led part of the expedition. \u201cTo be absorbed slowly over time is a grim way of going.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The \u201cdeath ball\u201d wasn\u2019t their only find. Among the 2,000 samples collected, they also found an iridescent worm, at least one unknown species of sea star, and several new crustaceans. At the moment, just 30 percent of the collected specimens have <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">been examined<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. From this small fraction, 30 new species have already <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">been confirmed<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_110034\" style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-110034\" class=\"size-full wp-image-110034\" src=\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1-Sea-Star-The-Nippon-Foundation-Nekton-Ocean-Census_Schmidt-Ocean-Institute-\u00a9-2025-e1763102960718.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-110034\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A new species of sea star. Photo: The Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census\/Schmidt Ocean Institute<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The two expeditions were part of the broader Ocean Census program, a collaboration of over 500 institutions from around the world. In 13 expeditions, the program has discovered over 800 new species. Its goal is to find many more. Currently, we are aware of approximately 240,000 marine species, but scientists estimate that <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">there are actually between one and two million.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Classifying new species often takes years, but these specimens go directly to the University of Magallanes in Punta Arenas, Chile. There, international taxonomists work side by side<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0to verify new species. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cBy coupling expeditions with species discovery workshops, we compress what often takes more than a decade into a faster pathway while maintaining scientific rigor,\u201d said taxonomist Tina Bolstad.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_110036\" style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-110036\" class=\"size-full wp-image-110036\" src=\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1-Iridescent-Scale-Worm-Jialing-Cai_The-Nippon-Foundation-Nekton-Ocean-Census_Schmidt-Ocean-Institute-\u00a9-2025-e1763102941280.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-110036\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A new iridescent worm. Photo: Jialing Cai\/The Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census\/Schmidt Ocean Institute<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Researchers have recently uncovered 30 unknown deep-sea species around Antarctica. These include a carnivorous sponge they nicknamed the \u201cdeath ball.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2117,"featured_media":110035,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"categories":[18,5,86],"coauthors":[142],"class_list":["post-110033","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antarctic","category-oceans","category-science"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Carnivorous &#039;Death Ball&#039; Sponge Found in Antarctic &#187; Explorersweb<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Researchers have recently uncovered 30 unknown deep-sea species around Antarctica. These include a carnivorous sponge they nicknamed the \u201cdeath ball.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/carnivorous-death-ball-sponge-found-in-antarctic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Carnivorous &#039;Death Ball&#039; Sponge Found in Antarctic &#187; Explorersweb\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Researchers have recently uncovered 30 unknown deep-sea species around Antarctica. These include a carnivorous sponge they nicknamed the \u201cdeath ball.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/carnivorous-death-ball-sponge-found-in-antarctic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Explorersweb\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheExplorersWeb\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-20T16:13:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-20T19:14:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1-Carnivorous-Tree-Sponge-The-Nippon-Foundation-Nekton-Ocean-Census_Schmidt-Ocean-Institute-\u00a9-2025-1-1536x864-1-e1763102950101.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rebecca McPhee\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ExplorersWeb\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ExplorersWeb\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rebecca McPhee\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/carnivorous-death-ball-sponge-found-in-antarctic\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/carnivorous-death-ball-sponge-found-in-antarctic\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Rebecca McPhee\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f2426783167c0a2fe0fc9f1e0d751883\"},\"headline\":\"Carnivorous &#8216;Death Ball&#8217; Sponge Found in Antarctic\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-20T16:13:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-20T19:14:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/carnivorous-death-ball-sponge-found-in-antarctic\/\"},\"wordCount\":395,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/carnivorous-death-ball-sponge-found-in-antarctic\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1-Carnivorous-Tree-Sponge-The-Nippon-Foundation-Nekton-Ocean-Census_Schmidt-Ocean-Institute-\u00a9-2025-1-1536x864-1-e1763102950101.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Antarctic\",\"Oceans\",\"Science\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/carnivorous-death-ball-sponge-found-in-antarctic\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/carnivorous-death-ball-sponge-found-in-antarctic\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/carnivorous-death-ball-sponge-found-in-antarctic\/\",\"name\":\"Carnivorous 'Death Ball' Sponge Found in Antarctic &#187; Explorersweb\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/carnivorous-death-ball-sponge-found-in-antarctic\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/carnivorous-death-ball-sponge-found-in-antarctic\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1-Carnivorous-Tree-Sponge-The-Nippon-Foundation-Nekton-Ocean-Census_Schmidt-Ocean-Institute-\u00a9-2025-1-1536x864-1-e1763102950101.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-20T16:13:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-20T19:14:25+00:00\",\"description\":\"Researchers have recently uncovered 30 unknown deep-sea species around Antarctica. These include a carnivorous sponge they nicknamed the \u201cdeath ball.\u201d\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/carnivorous-death-ball-sponge-found-in-antarctic\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/carnivorous-death-ball-sponge-found-in-antarctic\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/carnivorous-death-ball-sponge-found-in-antarctic\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1-Carnivorous-Tree-Sponge-The-Nippon-Foundation-Nekton-Ocean-Census_Schmidt-Ocean-Institute-\u00a9-2025-1-1536x864-1-e1763102950101.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1-Carnivorous-Tree-Sponge-The-Nippon-Foundation-Nekton-Ocean-Census_Schmidt-Ocean-Institute-\u00a9-2025-1-1536x864-1-e1763102950101.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":450,\"caption\":\"The carnivorous death ball sponge. Photo: The Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census\/Schmidt Ocean Institute\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/carnivorous-death-ball-sponge-found-in-antarctic\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Carnivorous &#8216;Death Ball&#8217; Sponge Found in Antarctic\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/\",\"name\":\"Explorersweb\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Explorer's Web\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/www.explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/23234250\/Exweb.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/www.explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/23234250\/Exweb.png\",\"width\":1409,\"height\":651,\"caption\":\"Explorer's Web\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheExplorersWeb\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/ExplorersWeb\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/explorersweb\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCicVrtWv5xz64da1wb5FUPQ\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f2426783167c0a2fe0fc9f1e0d751883\",\"name\":\"Rebecca McPhee\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/9d70ac922f2bcf1e79088023c203ffa0\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/www.explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/24003033\/IMG_0241-100x100.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/www.explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/24003033\/IMG_0241-100x100.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Rebecca McPhee\"},\"description\":\"Rebecca is a freelance writer and science teacher based in the UK. She is a keen traveler and has been lucky enough to backpack her way around parts of Africa, South America, and Asia. With a background in marine biology, she is interested in everything to do with the oceans. Her areas of expertise include open water sports, marine wildlife and adventure travel.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/author\/rebecca-mcphee\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Carnivorous 'Death Ball' Sponge Found in Antarctic &#187; Explorersweb","description":"Researchers have recently uncovered 30 unknown deep-sea species around Antarctica. These include a carnivorous sponge they nicknamed the \u201cdeath ball.\u201d","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/carnivorous-death-ball-sponge-found-in-antarctic\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Carnivorous 'Death Ball' Sponge Found in Antarctic &#187; Explorersweb","og_description":"Researchers have recently uncovered 30 unknown deep-sea species around Antarctica. These include a carnivorous sponge they nicknamed the \u201cdeath ball.\u201d","og_url":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/carnivorous-death-ball-sponge-found-in-antarctic\/","og_site_name":"Explorersweb","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheExplorersWeb","article_published_time":"2025-11-20T16:13:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-11-20T19:14:25+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":450,"url":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1-Carnivorous-Tree-Sponge-The-Nippon-Foundation-Nekton-Ocean-Census_Schmidt-Ocean-Institute-\u00a9-2025-1-1536x864-1-e1763102950101.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Rebecca McPhee","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ExplorersWeb","twitter_site":"@ExplorersWeb","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Rebecca McPhee","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/carnivorous-death-ball-sponge-found-in-antarctic\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/carnivorous-death-ball-sponge-found-in-antarctic\/"},"author":{"name":"Rebecca McPhee","@id":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f2426783167c0a2fe0fc9f1e0d751883"},"headline":"Carnivorous &#8216;Death Ball&#8217; Sponge Found in Antarctic","datePublished":"2025-11-20T16:13:28+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-20T19:14:25+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/carnivorous-death-ball-sponge-found-in-antarctic\/"},"wordCount":395,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/carnivorous-death-ball-sponge-found-in-antarctic\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1-Carnivorous-Tree-Sponge-The-Nippon-Foundation-Nekton-Ocean-Census_Schmidt-Ocean-Institute-\u00a9-2025-1-1536x864-1-e1763102950101.jpg","articleSection":["Antarctic","Oceans","Science"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/carnivorous-death-ball-sponge-found-in-antarctic\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/carnivorous-death-ball-sponge-found-in-antarctic\/","url":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/carnivorous-death-ball-sponge-found-in-antarctic\/","name":"Carnivorous 'Death Ball' Sponge Found in Antarctic &#187; Explorersweb","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/carnivorous-death-ball-sponge-found-in-antarctic\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/carnivorous-death-ball-sponge-found-in-antarctic\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1-Carnivorous-Tree-Sponge-The-Nippon-Foundation-Nekton-Ocean-Census_Schmidt-Ocean-Institute-\u00a9-2025-1-1536x864-1-e1763102950101.jpg","datePublished":"2025-11-20T16:13:28+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-20T19:14:25+00:00","description":"Researchers have recently uncovered 30 unknown deep-sea species around Antarctica. These include a carnivorous sponge they nicknamed the \u201cdeath ball.\u201d","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/carnivorous-death-ball-sponge-found-in-antarctic\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/carnivorous-death-ball-sponge-found-in-antarctic\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/carnivorous-death-ball-sponge-found-in-antarctic\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1-Carnivorous-Tree-Sponge-The-Nippon-Foundation-Nekton-Ocean-Census_Schmidt-Ocean-Institute-\u00a9-2025-1-1536x864-1-e1763102950101.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1-Carnivorous-Tree-Sponge-The-Nippon-Foundation-Nekton-Ocean-Census_Schmidt-Ocean-Institute-\u00a9-2025-1-1536x864-1-e1763102950101.jpg","width":800,"height":450,"caption":"The carnivorous death ball sponge. Photo: The Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census\/Schmidt Ocean Institute"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/carnivorous-death-ball-sponge-found-in-antarctic\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Carnivorous &#8216;Death Ball&#8217; Sponge Found in Antarctic"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/","name":"Explorersweb","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/#organization","name":"Explorer's Web","url":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/www.explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/23234250\/Exweb.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/www.explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/23234250\/Exweb.png","width":1409,"height":651,"caption":"Explorer's Web"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheExplorersWeb","https:\/\/x.com\/ExplorersWeb","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/explorersweb\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCicVrtWv5xz64da1wb5FUPQ"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f2426783167c0a2fe0fc9f1e0d751883","name":"Rebecca McPhee","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/9d70ac922f2bcf1e79088023c203ffa0","url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/www.explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/24003033\/IMG_0241-100x100.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/www.explorersweb.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/24003033\/IMG_0241-100x100.jpg","caption":"Rebecca McPhee"},"description":"Rebecca is a freelance writer and science teacher based in the UK. She is a keen traveler and has been lucky enough to backpack her way around parts of Africa, South America, and Asia. With a background in marine biology, she is interested in everything to do with the oceans. Her areas of expertise include open water sports, marine wildlife and adventure travel.","url":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/author\/rebecca-mcphee\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2117"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110033"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110033\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110033"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explorersweb.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=110033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}