Flexi Says: Sponges may not be exposed immediately to oil spills but can come into contact with oil if it is mixed into the water column. This can impact at community level, decreasing the diversity and density of benthic communities associated with deep-sea sponges owing to physical disturbance of the seabed; or at the individual level by interrupting filtration owing to exposure to increased sedimentation; and at cellular level by decreasing cellular membrane stability owing to exposure to drill muds.
