August 9, 2025

Buenos Aires is buzzing, but not for a Lionel Messi match or a hot political debate—it's for a live stream showing crustaceans, sponges, and sea cucumbers crawling around the Mar del Plata canyon off Argentina's coast. This unique show brought over 1 million viewers together, replacing weekend plans with sea-life marathons! This cool marine livestream is part of a project by Conicet, Argentina's national science council. Normally, science projects might stay quiet, but this one exploded into fame. Newspapers, TV, and even a Buenos Aires nightclub’s wall showed the sea creatures live. Fans have named a purple sea cucumber “little sweet potato,” a pink lobster “Barbie,” and transformed a starfish that resembles SpongeBob’s buddy into art. “It's very gripping,” said Natalia Costanzo, a 45-year-old restorer watching with her family. “And it's an act of resistance.” Why resistance? Because Argentina's President Javier Milei is cutting deep into science funding—slashing Conicet’s budget by over 20% since 2023. Researchers have lost jobs or even left Argentina. Milei questioned scientists’ work, asking, “What is their productivity? What have the scientists created?” yet defenders shout back with Conicet’s achievements in vaccines, Parkinson’s research, and dinosaur discoveries. The current sea expedition's scientists stick to talking about the sea creatures, but supporters of Conicet protested against Milei’s cuts, handing out starfish-shaped cookies. Politician Juan Grabois posted on social media, “Long live the Sea and Conicet,” and slammed Milei saying, “He will never understand the beauty of our country nor the greatness of our people.” The political fight for the ocean’s creatures got fiery. Milei's supporters mocked the livestream stars—even calling a sea slug “Peronist,” their political rival. One influencer said, “Very nice, but unfortunately, we're going to have to blow everything up to extract oil and get rich.” A right-wing paper called the expedition “an environmentalist psychological operation” to block resource use and keep Argentina poor. But the show is about more than politics. The orange starfish, famous for looking like SpongeBob’s Patrick—complete with a cute “butt”—is everywhere on T-shirts, mugs, cakes, and stickers. The scientists remind everyone: “The focus is the animals. The important thing is not us,” said Daniel Lauretta, expedition head. He’s thrilled that “people are rallying behind the Argentine sea.” So, a humble sea cucumber and starfish have become unlikely heroes, swimming straight into Argentina’s heart and the fierce debate over the country's scientific future.

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Tags: Argentine sea creatures, Conicet, Javier milei, Marine livestream, Scientific funding, Political debate,