'Real Life' SpongeBob and Patrick Seen During Deep Dive Expedition in Atlantic Ocean

A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientist engaged in a little nautical nonsense on July 27 when a livestream of an Atlantic deep dive captured two creatures resembling cartoon icons SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick Star.

This portion of the livestream, which the NOAA said was filmed in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument off the New England coast, shows a yellow sponge aside a pink starfish.

“I normally avoid these refs,” wrote Dr Christopher Mah, a starfish biologist and researcher, on Twitter, “but WOW. REAL LIFE SpongeBob and Patrick!”

According to Dr Mah, the scientific names for the creatures are Hertwigia (the sponge), and Chondraster (the starfish). Credit: NOAA Ocean Exploration via Storyful