Story at a glance:
- Divers with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration saw a yellow sea sponge and a pink sea star resembling SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick Star.
- Specifically, the sea critters are a Hertwigia sponge and Chondraster starfish.
- Starfish are carnivores, and they eat sponges in real life.
Marine scientists might have found the underwater city of Bikini Bottom, swimming upon a real-life version of SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick Star.
Divers with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) at the Retriever Seamount in the Atlantic Ocean, just 200 miles away from New York, spotted a yellow sea sponge and a pink sea star, resembling the iconic Nickelodeon due, The New York Post reported.
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Excited about his discovery, scientist Christopher Mah shared the picture on Twitter: “I normally avoid these refs… but WOW. REAL LIFE SpongeBob and Patrick!”
*laugh* I normally avoid these refs..but WOW. REAL LIFE Sponge bob and Patrick! #Okeanos Retreiver seamount 1885 m pic.twitter.com/fffKNKMFjP
— Christopher Mah (@echinoblog) July 27, 2021
“‘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,” Mah added.
The team of researchers from the NOAA’s Okeanos Explorer ship was observing the seamount aboard remotely using an operated vehicles (ROVs) when they spotted the Hertwigia sponge and Chondraster starfish.
While he said the comparison was fun, Mah did point out the real-life depictions of Spongbob and Patrick are vastly different than their cartoon version.
“As a biologist who specializes in sea stars, most depictions of Patrick and Spongebob are incorrect,” he added.
Sea sponges are either asexual or sexual, and their reproduction stems from their bodys fragmentation, according to Our Marine Species.
Starfishes are carnivores, and they eat sponge, crabs, clams, oysters and coral.
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