Who got caught on camera deep under the sea?
SpongeBob SquarePants, or at least, the cartoon character’s real-life doppelgänger, along with a dead ringer for his sidekick, Patrick.
“I normally avoid these refs..but WOW. REAL LIFE Sponge bob and Patrick!” tweeted marine biologist Christopher Mah alongside an image of the aquatic pair on Tuesday.
He added, “Scientific names: Hertwigia (sponge) and Chondraster (starfish).”
The image came from a livestream of a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration deepwater expedition. The sponge and sea star were seen about 1,885 meters underwater on Retriever Seamount, which is one of four undersea mountains that make up the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument in the Atlantic Ocean.
SpongeBob and Patrick are famously best friends in the Nickelodeon show. But in real life, Chondraster stars are carnivores that are known to eat sea sponges, Mah told Business Insider.
Let’s hope this one goes for a Krabby Patty instead.
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