Minivan-Sized Sea Sponge Discovered Near Hawaii

Scientists believe that a big percentage of the ocean is yet unexplored, with thousands of creatures yet to be discovered. However, more and more new species are found every year, and a sea sponge near Hawaii is one of the most recent finds.

According to CNN, two Hawaiian scientists came across a "minivan-sized" sea sponge was discovered deep in the ocean, and it's a wonder how these species were found only now despite its massive size.

The sea sponge was discovered by scientists aboard the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer, who spotted the creature at 7,000 feet deep in the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, a protected US National Monument that spanned about 140,000 square miles of ocean during an expedition from July to August 2015.

Enormous Sea Sponge May Be the Oldest Animal on Earth — https://t.co/qAaVB0soiQ pic.twitter.com/8QiFljTHGi

— Mental Floss (@mental_floss) May 29, 2016

Due to the creature's massive size, researchers were able to determine that it was a kind of sea sponge. NOAA Scientist Daniel Wagner, who made the discovery with the project's lead author, Christopher Kelley.

Wagner said that most of the experts who watched their video of the speices said that they have never seen any like it before, which serves as a confirmation that it is actually a new discovery.

The team collected a sample from the creature to find out what species it may be related to. They are also trying to figure out how old the creature actually is. Few is known about sponges and their lifespan, but bigger ones found in shallow waters are extimated to be around 2,300 years old. As noted by the Huffington Post, the scientists also said that the sea sponges could grow to such massive sizes "providing key ecosystem services such as filtering large amounts of seawater, as well as providing important habitat to a myriad of invertebrate and microbial species.”

The creature, whic is about 3.5 meters long. 2 meters high, and 1.5 meters wide is expected to at least be a few centuries old. The recent discovery, they said, ensures that the area needs protecting using the highest possible conservation measures.