You've probably seen the TV series SpongeBob SquarePants on Nickelodean. It was created by a marine biologist named Steven Hillenburg. The show first appeared on TV in 1999. Hillenburg was fascinated with the ocean from a young age and liked to draw. In college he pursued both of his interests. After graduation Hillenburg worked as a staff artist at the Ocean Institute. While there he created a comic book called the Intertidal Zone. It was designed to teach about marine life in tide pools. Eventually Hillenburg met a man who hired him at Nickelodean.. Several years later the idea of SpongeBob was born.