About

Brine Pool Livin' refers to a series of ironic shitposts referencing and praising brine pools, often accompanied by artwork depicting unusual sea creatures and creepypasta-like underwater imagery, which became popular in mid-February 2021. The hashtag #brinepoollivin' was started to encourage and collect these posts that can appear in numerous forms such as image macros.

Origin

A brine pool, sometimes known as an underwater lake, is a large collection of brine (highly concentrated salt in water) that collects in a crater under the sea, making a sort of lake (footage of brine pool exploration shown below).^[1] The salinity in these pools is between three to eight times higher than the usual salinity of the ocean, enough to send creatures that might enter a brine pool in search of food into toxic shock and kill them. Brine pools are also known to contain high amounts of other dangerous chemicals, like methane and hydrogen sulfide.^[2]

On November 3rd, 2017, Blue Planet uploaded a video of an eel swimming into a brine pool and dying of toxic shock to YouTube,^[3] garnering over 5 million views in three years (shown below). The video was posted to /r/natureismetal^[4] on February 11th, 2019, garnering over 24,000 upvotes in two years, and is one of the most popular videos of a brine pool.

On February 12th, 2021, Twitter^[5] user @kieu_tip posted a series of images, including screenshots of the eel suffering toxic shock, along with the text, "Come into the deep sea brine pool and experience such high levels of saline you go into toxic shock" garnering over 270 likes in six days (shown below).

The post inspired a number of other Twitter^[6] posts ironically referring to brine pools as desirable places as if trying to trick someone into visiting one (example shown below, left). On February 16th, Twitter^[7] user @hmnprsn tweeted, "Me and my homies are having a great time in the brine pool. C'mon in! nothing awful will happen #brinepoollivin" starting the #brinepoollivin hashtag (shown below, right).

Spread

A number of Twitter users made posts using the hashtag #brinepoollivin on February 16th, 2021, increasing interest in the trend. For example, on that date, Twitter^[9] user @Inyourmind141 posted an image of a skeleton under the sea along with the hashtag, garnering over 200 likes in two days (shown below, left). On the same date, Twitter^[10] user @louceph posted, "thinkin about #brinepoollivin" along with an image macro of a brine pool, garnering over 1,600 likes in two days (shown below, right).

Posts referencing brine pools and "brine pool livin'" increased significantly starting on February 17th, with some users posting original artwork inspired by the hashtag. On that date, Twitter^[8] user @leslekieuart posted, "found this brine boy at my local brine pool" along with a drawing of a mysterious deep-sea creature, garnering over 5,500 likes and 700 retweets in a day (shown below). A minute after posting, @leslekieuart commented on their post, "well you know what they say! #brinepoollivin."

On the same day, Twitter^[11] user @will_ftagn posted, "hoping there's still enough room for me in the #brinepool #brinepoollivin" along with art depicting a giant sea creature, garnering over 4,300 likes and 700 retweets in a day (shown below, left). Later that day, Twitter^[12] user @0ddoblivion then posted, "Two bros chillin’ in the brine pool, 5 feet apart cause they’re not gay. #brinepoollivin" along with a photoshopped version of the Two Bros Chillin In A Hot Tub meme, garnering over 600 upvotes in a day (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References