Cartoons enchant adults and children, and many of them are successful around the world, like Scooby Doo, Sponge Bob and Patrick, among many others. But did you know that some of these characters can leave fiction and invade our reality? Well, it happened recently in the ocean.

The project '2021 North Atlantic Stepping Stones: New England at Corner Rise Seamounts' wanted to get information about the deep sea off the east coast of the U.S. So the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) headed an expedition into the waters, however, early on the professionals made a great discovery: Sponge Bob and Patrick 'posed' together for an amazing photo.

The team used ROV's to map depths ranging from 820 to 13,124 feet below the surface, where important details of various creatures were collected. However, after reviewing the images, Christopher Mah, a starfish expert, spotted Sponge Bob and Patrick on a rock and promptly shared on Twitter.

Mah is a marine biologist at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, and is a constant presence on social media, meaning he couldn't help but spread the word. Check out the tweet:

"I thought it would be funny to do the comparison, the images are comparable for the first time, it's them, Sponge Bob and Patrick," Mah told Insider. "As a biologist specializing in starfish, most depictions of Patrick and Sponge Bob are incorrect."

SpongeBob and Patrick would not be friends in real life

Sea sponges have been part of the ocean for at least 600 million years, with more than 8,500 species, however, none of them are square, like in the cartoon. What really caught your attention was the bright yellow color, because at the bottom of the sea, usually the creatures are white or orange to blend into the environments.

Image: Divulgação/ Reasons to Believe

On the other hand, starfish have shades of pink or white, with five arms studded with mini suction cups, which help in locomotion. Although SpongeBob and Patrick are best friends in fiction, in real life sponges and starfish do not get along very well. Stars are carnivorous and attack not only sponges, but also oysters, shellfish, crabs and corals, as statedChristian Spencer.

If in the cartoon the inseparable duo lives in Bikini Bottom, in our dimension it inhabits waters so deep that no light can penetrate. In other words, even though the photo shows the inseparable friends, side by side, we'd better continue with the cartoon fantasy.

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With information from Smithsonian Magazine.