We’ve got your minds blown when we showed you some of the instances when real animals look exactly like Disney characters. Prepare for another mind blowing revelation because Disney characters aren’t the only ones having a brush with reality. A photo of a square yellow sea sponge and a pink starfish was taken from the depths of the sea, and these sea creatures are the exact lookalikes of SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick Star.
Reality and fiction are two entirely different worlds but they are not as different as we think. It’s a fact that fiction is mostly inspired by reality but every so often, reality appears to mimic fiction. And it’s always so fascinating when people capture those rare moments when real people or animals inadvertently reenact fictional characters. The real-life SpongeBob and Patrick was spotted by NOAA ship Okeanos Explorer during its ocean expedition on Retriever Seamount, a deep-sea mountain 200 miles off the coast of New York.
Real-Life SpongeBob And Patrick
Marine scientist Chrisopther Mah was watching a live feed from the exploratory vessel when he caught a glimpse of the yellow sponge and the pink starfish which appeared to be hanging out together on a rock. Mah immediately noticed their resemblance to Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob and Patrick. The resemblance was beyond belief that he had to snap a photo of the video footage and share it online.
NOAA’s Okeano’s Explorer
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When he shared the photo on Twitter, people were amazed by these cartoon characters doppelgangers. One Twitter user even edited the photo to complete the SpongeBob and Patrick looks. Realizing that these popular animated characters were based off real sea creatures, people then began asking Mah about these particular species. According to Mah, the lovable character who lives in a pineapple under the sea belongs to the Hertwigia genus. These deep-sea sponges are usually white or orange and bright yellow ones are really rare. The pink starfish right next to the sponge is a sea star known as Chondraster which can be various shades of pink or white.
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Now, if you think these real-life SpongeBob and Patrick are hanging out together just like they often do in the series, we’re sorry to ruin your childhood because the following fact will again blow your mind. A sea star typically feeds on sponges by everting its abdomen onto the sponge and digesting the tissue. When it’s done consuming the tissue, the starfish leaves behind nothing but the sponge skeleton. Hence, starfishes only approach sponges to prey on them. And the pink starfish on the photo is likely to have found a generous meal on the yellow sponge.
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Reality sucks, right? Well, we could just convince ourselves that sponges and starfishes are best buddies. And they always go together on silly adventures in an underwater city called Bikini Bottom.
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