Marine scientist Christopher Mah of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shared this humorous picture of what a real-life SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick Star would look like.
Mah posted the picture of a Hertwigia (sponge) and Chondraster (sea star) on Twitter. The duo were found on the side of the Retriever seamount in the Atlantic Ocean about 200 miles (320 km) east of New York City, by a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) on the NOAA's Okeanos Explorer ship.
"I normally avoid these refs ... but WOW. REAL LIFE SpongeBob and Patrick!" Mah wrote on his tweet. Talking to Insider, Mah added "I thought it would be funny to make the comparison, which for once was actually kind of comparable to the iconic images/colors of the cartoon characters. As a biologist who specializes in sea stars, most depictions of Patrick and SpongeBob are incorrect."
Indeed, SpongeBob probably shouldn't be sitting so calmly next to Patrick as sea stars are actually carnivores that eat sponges.
No words on whether they've found the other residents of Bikini Bottom on this trip.
#SpongeBob #SpongeBobSquarePants #PatrickStar #seasponge #seastar #marinebiology #NOAA #AtlanticOcean #NewYorkCity #ROV #OkeanosExplorer
Related: