Life imitates art — at least if Sesame Street counts as art — in this bizarre trio of sea sponges, which fused together to form the spitting image of Cookie Monster:

ME WANT COOKIE.

Mauricio HandlerME WANT COOKIE.

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How this happen? The L.A. Times explains:

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Photographer Mauricio Handler stumbled across this “Cookie Monster of the sea” while on a diving trip to Curacao in the Caribbean, and could not resist taking a few shots …

The Cookie Monster sponge is about 3 feet tall and squishy to the touch. According to Handler, you could easily close its gaping “mouth” by squeezing it between your thumb and forefinger.

So cute. So huggable. WHY WOULD YOU RETURN TO LAND? I’d want to pull a reverse Little Mermaid and hang out with such a creature, feeding it soggy cookies I smuggled in my wetsuit while singing “Cookie, cookie, cookie starts with sea!” (Although that would probably just sound like a gargle.)

But for real, don’t disturb sea life, kids. Even if you both love oatmeal raisin.

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