If there are two characters that represent friendship in its purest state, those are SpongeBob and Patrick, and since yesterday International Friendship Day was celebrated, it seems that now they have really wanted to “come to light” and make themselves known to everyone’s sight thanks to a photo that has already gone viral on social networks and has “proven” that SpongeBob and Patrick really exist.
Spongebob and Patrick exist! The viral photo that sweeps social networks
Seen on the seafloor 200 miles east of New York , the particular duo appears to have been caught by a remotely operated vehicle. It is about a Hertwigia sponge and a Chondraster star , which in the course of exploration surprised scientists precisely by relating them to cartoon characters.
SpongeBob is undoubtedly one of the most popular cartoons in the world . The series, set on the bottom of the sea, tells the adventures of the sea sponge SpongeBob and his friend Patrick, a starfish. So much is the success of the series that even a group of scientists , when they found themselves in front of the scene in this image , could not avoid photographing it : on the walls of an underwater mountain they found a yellow sponge lying down and next to it a small red star navy blue . “I usually avoid these references, but wow: the real SpongeBob and Patrick,” wrote Christopher Mah, a scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
*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
NOAA scientists were surprised not only by the relationship with the cartoons, but also by the colors, especially sponge yellow, unusual for the seafloor. The red star, on the other hand, has five “arms” lined with suction cups that allow it to move across the seafloor and adhere to rocks and other organisms.
The idea of the drawings and the friendship between SpongeBob and Patrick, however, could confuse someone about the reality of the events: the photo does not show two marine friends, on the contrary. Starfish are carnivores and once they reach their prey, they stretch their stomach out of their mouths and use special enzymes to destroy and digest their prey. Sea sponges are among the favorite foods of these animals , so what was portrayed in the photo was anything but a friendship encounter: the star approached the sponge to feed.
