Sponge was also used for padding helmets and for filtering water.
For generations, young men and their fathers and their forefathers earned their living by diving for sponges.
The heavy stone would drag the naked bodies quickly to the bottom.
Display of natural sponges for sale on Kalymnos in Greece.
Productivity increased a hundredfold, bringing enormous wealth to the islanders.
But the diving suit also brought a dramatic change in the physiology of diving.
The lucky ones got away with joint pains and headache, but some became paralyzed for life.
Many collapsed and died.
With no knowledge of decompression sickness or dive tables, the casualties mounted up quickly.
The deaths and the paralysis shattered the families of Kalymnos.
Every household on the island had at least one sufferer.
The divers had to go skin diving again, and profits dropped causing concern among the men.
After a few years, the diving suit was back, and so were the decompression accidents.
The knowledge of decompression and decompression sickness developed in the late 19th century.
The first workable decompression table came out in 1910.
It took several more years for that knowledge to reach the remote Greek islands.
The decompression tables could not prevent all diving accidents.
The first tables did not cover repeated dives and the sponge divers made several repeated dives each day.
Some settled in Tarpon Springs, in Florida, USA.
With the development of synthetic sponge, the sponge industry gradually spluttered to a halt.
Sponge diver in Tarpon Springs, Florida, circa 1907.
Photo credit:Stratis Liadellis
Sponges for sale in Rhodes, Greece.
Photo credit:Joe Ross/Flickr
Loops of sponges at Tarpon Springs, Florida.
Photo credit:psyberartist/Flickr
Sponges on the dock.
Tarpon Springs, Florida.
Photo credit:Walter/Flickr
A memorial to sponge divers in Tarpon Springs, Florida.
Photo credit:Daniel Oines/Flickr
Photo credit:www.seaspongecompany.com
Sources:Wikipedia/www.divingheritage.com/Michael N Kalafatas/Divernet
