When researchers watched NOAA’s Okeanos Explorer drop down into the inky-black depths 200 miles off the eastern U.S. coastline, they expected to find a handful of unexpected things. They didn’t expect, however, just how unexpected one find in particular would be: a real life SpongeBob SquarePants and his pink starfish pal, Patrick Star.
The mission, which was part of an expedition to find out more about the deeper areas of the Atlantic, had a few goals. Researchers piloting the vessel were tasked with mapping the seafloor, studying deep sea coral sponge communities, researching different species, and looking at the ecosystems of seamounts. They spotted the cartoon-like pair at the Retriever Seamount, part of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument off the coast of New England, at a little more than 6,000 feet down, on July 27, 2021. “I normally avoid these refs..but WOW,” Tweeted Christopher Mah, a research associate at the National Museum of Natural History and a starfish expert. “A REAL LIFE SpongeBob and Patrick!”
Not all is as it seems, however. According to Mah, the species of starfish is a Chondraster grandis, which was the likely inspiration behind Patrick. The sponge is a Hertwigia. It’s unlikely that the pair would form a friendship similar to the cartoons. In reality, starfish often feed on sponges.
“In all likelihood, the reason that starfish is right next to that sponge is because that sponge is just about to be devoured, at least in part,” Mah explained to NPR. “Or maybe not. The sponge might be bright yellow because of its chemical defenses…The reality is a little crueler than perhaps a cartoon would suggest.”
