There's a lot of things you wouldn't expect to see, working as a marine biologist: Godzilla, the Kraken, or even Spongebob Squarepants for that matter. But Christopher Mah spotted just that while watching a live feed from a mile-deep submersible (Spongebob that is, not the Kraken).

As the submersible showed a yellow sponge and even a pink starfish next to it on the feed, Mah couldn't help but notice the uncanny resemblance these two creatures had to the cartoon: "They're just a dead ringer for the cartoon characters," he told the National Public Radio.

Mah took an image and tweeted it; then he won the internet.

*laugh* I normally avoid these refs..but WOW. REAL LIFE Sponge bob and Patrick! #Okeanos Retreiver seamount 1885 m pic.twitter.com/fffKNKMFjP

— Christopher Mah (@echinoblog) July 27, 2021

Mah is himself an expert on starfish and is a research associate at the National Museum of Natural History. So the news doesn't end there. It turns out that sponges and sea stars aren't friends: sea stars actually feed on sponges. The pink sea star might be out there to eat the sponge, but on the other hand, the sponge might have such a bright yellow because of the chemicals it secretes in defense. That explains how Spongebob and Patrick might end up being friends.