There’s something oddly comforting about the fact that, while we’re up here arguing about pumpkin spice versus peppermint mocha, ocean scientists have just discovered dozens of new species hanging out at the bottom of the Southern Ocean including, a carnivorous “death ball” sponge.

Yes, you read that right. Somewhere beneath miles of icy darkness lives a spherical sponge covered in tiny hooks whose life mission is trapping prey. Basically, it’s what would happen if a stress ball and a Venus flytrap had an undersea baby.

And if that weren’t enough nightmare fuel, researchers also spotted the charmingly named “zombie worm.” This creature has no mouth, no gut, and no shame. It eats by letting bacteria inside its body dissolve whale bones. It’s like a macabre symbiotic dinner party.

Here’s what I love about this. These strange, otherworldly creatures have existed right here on Earth long before we had GPS or Google Maps. It took precision mapping, high-def submersibles, and people with nerves of steel to find them.

Meanwhile, most of us can’t even find our car keys or eyeglasses even when we’re wearing them.

But maybe that’s the point. There’s still mystery left in this world and not the messy human kind involving unread emails and questionable text messages. The good kind. The kind that reminds us how small we are, how much we don’t know, and how much discovery still awaits if we dare to look deeper.

So here’s to the death ball sponge. Proof that even in the darkest, coldest places on the planet, life finds a way. A weird, spiky, slightly terrifying way.

Now if only I could channel some of that deep-sea grit into surviving my morning commute.