Purple spongey thing around my hammer

[Houston03]

Can anyone help me id this thing? It’s soft and spongey to the touch and I can remove it if necessary but the hammer obviously doesn’t like it

 

[JGT]

Think you’ve self identified, appears to be sponge or tunicate. Filter feeder.

 

[G Santana]

I think you nailed it, purple sponge

 

[Tired]

Looks like a sponge. Not likely to be the problem with the hammer, it's basically an inanimate object. Unless some is poking into the hammer's flesh, I wouldn't expect it to be a problem. Heck, even then, it shouldn't be doing anything. You can scrape it off if you really want, but it may recur.