Seem like the sponge absorption facing North or South is bigger compared to West or East

not sure if this is meant to be a feature or not, already present in 1.18 but got way worse on 1.19.

Here is it in action

https://youtu.be/gR_ayrBPoXU

Facing South or North

1.18.1 - 1.19

Facing East or West

1.18.1 - 1.18.2

1.19

1.19.1 pre-release 4