'Jesus Crab' Caught Off Whidbey Island, Resembles 'Cool Jesus' Meme

OAK HARBOR, WA - It's pretty common to see Jesus fish. But what about Jesus crabs? A local woman crabbing in Crescent Harbor off Whidbey Island recently caught a crab with the likeness of Jesus emblazoned on its belly.

Regis Swanson, a park ranger for Snohomish County, pulled the Jesus crab from the frigid depths of Puget Sound on Monday. It was her first day crabbing this season.

"Went crabbing. Found @jesus," Swanson wrote on Twitter - and she threw in the hashtags #ForceofNature and #NoJoke for effect.

At this point, it's important to point out which Jesus we're dealing with here. Of course, there's Warner Sallman's famous "Head of Christ" Jesus, which he painted in 1940 and was made famous by the Anderson, Ind., Church of God. More recently, there's the public access TV Jesus from "South Park." Then, of course, there's Pancake Jesus, who appeared on a breakfast treat at a restaurant in Norco, Calif., in 2014.

But the crustacean manifestation of our lord and savior is definitely in the vein of Cool Jesus, the winking, thumbs-up Internet meme. If you look closely, he appears to be wearing sunglasses and is flashing an assured grin.

No matter which version of Jesus Crab Jesus is, it's certainly one of the stranger places for him to show up. So far, we've had Stump Jesus in Ireland, a Jesus Tree in Malta, the Jesus Pierogi found near Toledo, Ohio, and, perhaps pre-saging Jesus Crab, there was the Jesus Fish Stick up in Canada.

Back to business: crabbing is not a sport in Washington state; you go crabbing to get a nice meal. So, did Swanson and her friends end up eating Crab Jesus?

"It was a female crab that you can't keep, so she went back in the water," Swanson told Patch.com.

Maybe that means god is a woman after all?

Image courtesy Regis Swanson