NOAA Expedition Finds Real-Life "Patrick and Spongebob" 6,200 feet below the Atlantic

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Blake Seidel • Managing Editor & Brand Manager
Sep 14, 2026 8:15 AM EDT

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? Absorbent and yellow and porous is he?

Well, kids, are ya ready? Turns out that SpongeBob SquarePants was a documentary this whole time, not just a hilarious kids' cartoon. After scientists from NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, found a bright-yellow sea sponge chilling next to a pink sea star, we can't deny the truth any longer. I always knew there was more to SpongeBob than met the eye, and all that was missing was a cantankerous squid, a pineapple, and a squirrel wearing a space suit. 

Okay, SpongeBob SquarePants isn't really a documentary, but I never thought I'd see this actually happen in real life. I knew that these two creatures existed in the ocean, but to have them be right next to each other and be the exact same color as their characters in the show is a once-in-a-lifetime coincidence. Guess it turns out that Stephen Hillenburg, the show's creator, really knew his stuff.

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  • 01
    COM Complex PLEX @Complex Follow ... Scientists may have found the real life SpongeBob and Patrick nearly 6,200 feet below the Atlantic.
    via @Complex
  • 02
    Cheezburger Image 10663563008
    via NOAA

  • We didn't get cable television until I was around 11 years old, but as soon as we did, I became a Nickelodeon kid. And what did every Nickelodeon kid from the 90s watch? SpongeBob SquarePants. I'm sure the cartoon must have seemed stranger than fiction to my parents, but to me, it was a hilarious escape for me every day. It's still hilarious if you watch it as an adult, actually. The characters that they built in that show are so ridiculous, and the world is so outrageous that they could do anything, and it would entertain nearly any kid. 

    I knew it was fake, but it made me more curious about life under the sea. I begged my parents to take us to the beach more (even though the closest beach was about 5 hours away) so I could try to find my own SpongeBob and Patrick to play with. I did find a starfish once, but it looked nothing like the starfish in this video. I never found a sea sponge, but a crab did find me, and he was about as crabby as Mr. Krabs (it even pinched my toe, sending me crying to my mom).

    Like most kids, as I grew up, I grew out of SpongeBob and moved on to other interests. Funnily enough, it came back around later in life as something to have on in the background, or to watch late at night when nothing else good was on TV. It holds a nostalgic place in my heart, and it still gets me to laugh more than you would expect.

  • 03
    Cheezburger Image 10663563520
    via NOAA
  • 04
    A NOAA expedition captured a yellow sponge and pink sea star sitting side by side, and marine biologist Christopher Mah pointed out the obvious comparison.
    via @Complex
  • 05
    Cheezburger Image 10663563776
    via NOAA
  • 06
    Cheezburger Image 10663563264
    via NOAA
  • 07
    NORA OCEAN EXPLORATION
    via NOAA OCEAN EXPLORATION
  • 08
    SneakySolebrity @ThaChosen Ni_a OCEAN EXPLORATION .. ...
    via @ThaChosen Ni**a
  • 09
    KNVB Sakanable @KNVBSakanable Someone check if there is a Pineapple nearby
    via @KNVBSakanable
  • 10
    II GIF :') @BILLORANL Best Buddies 4-Life Q
    via @BILLORANL
  • 11
    EduHive Raw @EduHiveRaw So, SpongeBob was a documentary this entire time? Someone check nearby for a grumpy octopus and a suspiciously wealthy crab.
    via @EduHiveRaw
  • 12
    BigBertha71 D @BigBertha_71 in they never made it out of Rock Bottom BUZ
    via @BigBertha_71
  • 13
    Maly @vy416644 There is an animal that has no brain, eyes, stomach, or nervous system, yet has survived for 600 million years. Sponges (Porifera) are living filters.
    via @vy416644
  • 14
    Word on the Street This is getting weird @WOTS
    via @W_O_T_S_
  • 15
    Absurd On Today @AbsurdOnToday Sea stars at that depth are almost exclusively predatory carnivores that consume sponges by extruding their stomachs over them. What looks like companionship is just lunch moving at very low speed.
    via @AbsurdOnToday
  • 16
    @moonlitmagnolia wait why is it giving Ø .. ... 00
    via @moonlitmagnolia
  • 17
    Von @Voncheeze People dont realize Stephen Hillenburg was a pure marine biologist where its common fact to know in their field that certain unlrthodox species in the ocean connect more to each other than other people think.
    via @Voncheeze
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    One of those is the sponge and starfish which was one of his inspirations to create the series Spongebob Squarepants. He didnt just pair those two for sh s and giggles there are MILLIONS AND THE MIIIIILLIONS of starfish and sponge wombo combos all over our ocean floors. He was a very very smart man, what we know now today he already knew decades upon decades ago.....simple as that.
    via @AbsurdOnToday
  • 19
    Levi @WVTTS1017 Us rn ...
    via @WVTTS1017
  • 20
    leo @leolunex This makes me want to cry bro they are besties
    via @leolunex
  • 21
    Lord Eternal @Lord Eternal777 What happens underwater, stays underwater. Unless the video leaks online and then I can't help you.
    via @LordEternal777
  • 22
    yoshida tsubasa @yoshidatsuvrbk ... Spongebob found at 6,200 ft? The ocean's just a giant meme factory.
    via @yoshidatsuvrbk
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    via NOAA

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atlantic ocean SpongeBob SquarePants science animals
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