Nature
PUBLISHED
Sometimes, life truly imitates art. And, as we all know, who lives in a pineapple under the sea? It is in fact SpongeBob SquarePants, and the spitting images of him and Patrick Star have just been found chilling in real life.
The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.In a hilarious image posted by marine biologist and invertebrate researcher Christopher Ma, he shows off a sea sponge and starfish sat next to each other while on a deep-sea expedition around the Retriever Seamount. According to Ma, the pair were found 1,885 meters (6,184 feet) below sea level, and are actually scientifically named Hertwigia (the bright yellow sponge) and Chondraster (the starfish).
The Retriever Seamount lies in a collection of extinct volcanoes known as the New England Seamounts. Found off the coast of Massachusetts and extending for over 683 miles (1,100 kilometers), the seamounts rise far off the sea bed and form a rich biota of marine life. They have been extensively mapped – in this case using the NOAAS Okeanos Explorer, a converted Navy ship used for ocean exploration. The Retriever Seamount is now a National Monument and could be the perfect location for a thriving village of talking sponges and diving suit-clad squirrels.
