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Letter to the editor

Sponge diver makes a big catch

Jerry Kalouris, 49, started sponge diving 27 years ago. He attributes his success to experience, not luck.

By ELENA LESLEY, Times Staff Writer
Published August 7, 2007

Jerry Kalouris (left) unloads wool, yellow and grass sponges from his boat at the Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks. Helping Kalouris is sponge diver Odeesy Stamitiou. Nearly 18,000 pieces of sponge were harvested.
	[Times photo: Douglas R. Clifford]

TARPON SPRINGS - To make it as a sponge diver in the Gulf of Mexico these days, you've got to have experience.

"There's no such thing as luck" left in the business, said local diver Jerry Kalouris. "People starting out now couldn't survive financially."

But Kalouris, 49, has nearly three decades of diving to his credit. And his skills recently nabbed him one of the biggest hauls of his career: nearly 18,000 pieces of sponge.

After 39 days of diving, Kalouris unloaded his product at the Sponge Docks on Monday.

Old-timers marveled at the scene, impressed anyone could find that much natural sea sponge with today's depleted resources.

"It's one of the biggest catches we've had in decades," longtime sponge merchant George Billiris said.

A sponge-killing blight initially hampered the industry in the 1940s; subsequent hurricanes and the Red Tide of two years ago shrank the supply even more.

But there's still a demand. And those who are savvy enough will try to fill it.

Kalouris, who started sponge-diving at 22, says years in the business - first in his native Greece, then in Tarpon Springs - have given him the sharp eyes and skills he needs to get the good sponges.

"There are definitely fewer sponges" than when Kalouris moved to Tarpon Springs 20 years ago, he said. "And the quality isn't as good."

Kalouris, one of around five full-time spongers at the docks, makes four big trips each year, diving for around 40 days each time. He generally collects around 14,000 pieces of wool, yellow and grass sponges.

For Monday's haul, he raked in $60,000.

"It's one of the biggest trips I've ever had," he said. "It's a record for me."

Elena Lesley can be reached at elesley@sptimes.com or 727 445-4167.

By the numbers

39 days of diving for sponges in the Gulf of Mexico

18,000 approximate number of sponges brought back to Tarpon Springs

$60,000 earned on the sponge haul

Priceless bringing in the biggest haul Jerry Kalouris has ever had

[Last modified August 6, 2007, 20:32:27]