The Sponge Capital of the World

The Atlas Obscura Podcast

SiriusXM Podcasts & Atlas Obscura

Society & Culture, Places & Travel

4.6 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 13 December 2022

⏱️ 15 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Discover how Tarpon Springs, Florida became known as the Sponge Capital of the World. This “Small Town, Big Story” episode is produced in partnership with GoUSA TV. To watch the video, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZShrVCpUK0 READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/tarpon-springs-florida

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm out on a boat having just left the harbor of Tarpen Springs, Florida, about a 45-minute
0:19.6	drive from Tampa.
0:21.7	And Captain Jim Scarulis is telling me how he communicates with his divers when they're
0:27.0	underwater.
0:28.0	If he signals one time, that means he wants to come up.
0:31.0	Okay.
0:32.0	Two times.
0:33.0	He's got a net full.
0:34.0	He's got to throw the other net and bring that with the full net up.
0:37.0	Okay.
0:38.0	There's no walkie-talkie and no intercom.
0:40.4	All the divers used to communicate is a rope.
0:43.5	And this is relevant because I am on this boat to do just that.
0:47.8	I am all suited up and ready to go for a dive.
0:52.1	Three times is if he's looking for a marked spot, it's a good spot.
0:57.6	Four times is for a speargun if he sees a fish.
1:02.6	The fifth time is when he sees a shark and he has to run up.
1:06.0	I'm only kidding.
1:08.9	But here's the thing.
1:09.9	What I'm about to do is going to be pretty safe.
1:12.8	But it wasn't always.
1:14.6	In fact, it was once incredibly dangerous.
	...

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