the world’s oceans harbor a wide variety of mystery and strange creatures as you may know some of the world’s largest creatures are found in the ocean with countless examples of animals growing to unprecedented size especially on the seafloor these five giant monsters hidden in the sea are sure to amaze you as we continue our search for the ocean’s craziest giants before we begin make sure you hit that subscribe button to get notified every day for more amazing content with that being said let’s begin number five lion’s mane jellyfish this hugely overgrown jellyfish is basically just a seething mass of danger that being so their stings while painful are not deadly and can be negated with a simple application of everyday vinegar in absence of that we guess peeing on it would also alleviate the discomfort but probably not enough to make up for the discomfort that comes from having to pee on either yourself or someone else in public if it were up to us we just wait it out thank you very much even though it’s not a huge deal medical attention is recommended if the sting is bad enough based on the sheer number of tentacles streaming from its body a glimpse into just how massive these things can be comes from back in 2010 when a story broke about 150 people being stung by what was later found to be separate parts of a single decaying lion’s mane jellyfish even when dead toxins remain in the jellyfish tentacles and are able to cause some serious damage especially with some of the more potent species hanging out at depths of only around 20 meters these jellyfish tend to get in the way of swimmers relatively frequently with numbers increasing during the summer in eastern canada with some being spotted as late as mid-fall we can thank the leatherback sea turtle for looking out for us however as they almost exclusively eat these floating troublemakers during peak times their central body can have a diameter of over 7 feet with some tails trailing past 100 feet in length which is longer than the entire length of a blue whale these tentacles are attached to eight separate lobes in the main body each of the lobes has in turn up to 150 tentacles meaning they can have up to 1 200 tentacles per jellyfish keeping this in mind we have to say we’re glad that these monsters aren’t terribly deadly but wouldn’t ever want to put that to the test being wrapped up in 100 feet of toxic tentacles isn’t our idea of a fun day out after all the silver lining is that these giants can’t deal with warm water so you won’t run into them while swimming in more temperate locales number four giant spined sea stars these sea stars are wonderfully massive specimens that can grow up to two feet in length while this doesn’t seem like much it’s a great case of gigantism most sea stars come nowhere near that this form of gigantism isn’t however based on these critters living in the extremes of the deep ocean which makes them an interesting study despite their overly large appearance they surprisingly have very small legs with their young slowly reaching such immense sizes they’re also found at relatively shallow depths with many being exposed at low tide no matter their geographic location the deepest reaches where giant spine sea stars have been found go no further than around 300 feet below the surface their bodies are quite sturdy and their arms are exceptionally wide given those of other species of sea star they also true to their name have large thick spines although these are blunt and aren’t dangerous to humans they’re used to help fend off predators but are only meant as a deterrence with no real harm being inflicted even though they’ve got a lot of bulk and are relatively defenseless these lucky sea stars have very few natural predators sea otters and some birds feed on them in order to feed themselves they literally extend their stomachs out of their central beaked mouths in order to get hard to reach prey such as the bodies of muscles number three giant isopod the deepest depths of the ocean hide some terrifying monstrosities and this next creature is no different it may be a little smaller than the rest of those featured but it is by far the creepiest in our countdown there are around 20 species of giant isopods known to science with the largest growing up to three feet and weighing a relatively massive 1.7 kilograms to put this in perspective they’re related to the common wood laos also dubbed pilbug or roly-poly given the minute stature of their land-based cousins the giant isopods that thrive on the sea floor are a perfect example of truly deep sea gigantism on a scale that dwarfs that of the also affected giant spine sea stars helping to cement that concept home is the fact that these are also the largest known isopods in the entire world with most being exceptionally tiny commercial fishing encounters these deep sea scavengers on a regular basis as they are known to routinely attack and devour fish caught in large-scale trawls they serve no real commercial value however as they’re only taken seriously as food in taiwan these underwater giants are found all over the world although separate species within the genus are generally specific to their own bodies of water not much is known about these hideous creatures and many more species are thought to exist than we can currently fathom this is because they’re usually found at depths exceeding 170 meters giant isopods have been found as far down as 2140 meters below the ocean surface making these critters adept at surviving in extreme environments even though they can live in warm water they prefer colder temperatures opting to stay predominantly at the deeper end of the scale amazing footage detailing the way the giant isopods hunt was captured and aired during shark week in 2015 expanding our understanding of these elusive scavengers it shows an isopod attacking a dogfish shark and is an impressive display to say the least since food is so scarce in the deepest reaches of the ocean they’ve been known to eat whatever they come across and some have survived over five years in captivity without a meal standing as a testament to their heartiness when they do decide to dig in they exhibit a ravenous gluttony eating until they can’t move anymore after a period of digestion they can then go in for further attempts before completely devouring their target meal another point worth noting is that fossil records show these creatures roamed the watery depths more than 160 million years ago making giant isopods a literal living fossil not many animals alive today can make that boast which sets giant isopods apart from most life on this planet number two japanese spider crab the japanese spider crab is certainly worthy of its name as well as a spot on our countdown gigantism at work once again these beasts reach lengths of 18 feet measured from one claw tip to the other with some specimens weighing up to 42 pounds the american lobster is the only arthropod species that’s heavier unlike its earlier counterparts these are considered a delicacy around the world but especially in japan they’re difficult to track and catch making them incredibly sought after by those who can afford it while these tasty giants are usually found at depths of around 200 to 600 meters they can migrate much closer to the surface to breed and reproduce making them much more numerous and vulnerable during these times being a scavenger these monster crabs have been known to feed on just about anything plants and animals alike their young are usually tiny drifting around on the ocean’s surface while eating predominantly plankton thankfully they look nothing like their monstrous parents who would terrify anyone unlucky enough to be surprised up close looking like something out of a science fiction movie they’ve been proven to be relatively smart using their massive legs to pry open difficult to digest mollusk shells the japanese spider crab has so far caused a bit of an issue with regard to proper classification as it doesn’t seem to fit any previously known group all that well it’s gone through a number of iterations with more study necessary to properly narrow it down some fossils seem to be closely related to the huge crabs as well as a species that has since gone extinct but it seems to have no close living relatives as far as researchers can tell while the span of 18 feet is definitely an extreme example it would undoubtedly instill fear in even the most composed of us with the average size of three to four feet being unpleasant but a little less nerve-wracking even at those sizes their powerful claws would still be able to cause very serious injury to anyone unfortunate enough to arouse their curiosity furthermore their solid exoskeletons are known to fend off impressive predators such as octopi and even sharks the good news here is that they do tend to be rather peaceful and will usually avoid a confrontation if at all possible they use camouflage to blend into the ocean floor and sometimes use decorations such as sea sponges and other creatures to disguise themselves further that’s one hell of a smart crab number one giant pacific octopus we’ve talked briefly about the giant pacific octopus when it popped up in our five craziest animal fights caught on camera and spotted in real life video but we were so impressed by the sheer size and power of these incredible predators that we just had to dive a little deeper so to speak the largest live specimen that we know about weighed in at an awesome 156 pounds its rival the seven arm octopus is thought to weigh up to 165 pounds but a live specimen of that size has yet to be found they’re experts at deep sea diving being found at the bone crushing depth of 2000 meters below sea level these predators are immensely powerful using the enormous arms to latch onto prey in a death grip allowing it to subdue and restrain its victims as its name tells us this species of octopi is only found in relatively cold north pacific waters like most octopi the giant pacific octopus maintains an excellent camouflage system maintained by its nervous system most adults have an arm span of around 4 meters but the largest live one found mentioned earlier had a span of closer to 6 meters some specimens have been estimated to have been up to 600 pounds with an arm span of 30 feet which would put these monsters in giant squid territory although they haven’t been confirmed or even accepted by many scientists they usually take on relatively docile prey but do sometimes attack other predators such as sharks and can expertly defend themselves if provoked despite their size many don’t make it to adulthood as they do have many natural predators including seals and sea lions their eggs are also an excellent source of food for many ocean scavengers making their lives somewhat difficult if they manage to overcome these odds however they can live up to three to five years in the wild which is more than the average of around one year for most species of octopus unfortunately researchers have recently noticed signs of heavy metal poisoning in captured specimens which means we could inadvertently be doing serious damage to the giant pacific octopuses already dwindling numbers time will tell if it’ll be able to survive the test of time but rising ocean temperatures pollution and human fishing practices could very easily tip this grand monster into the abyss of extinction before we’re able to do anything to stop it hope you enjoyed the video folks if you did make sure you click that subscribe button before you head out if you’re new it’s all you have to do come on just click it i i know you want to oh and if you enjoyed the video drop a like i heard it gives you super powers in the future or something thank you so much for watching and i’ll see you on the next video
5 Giant Monsters Hidden in the Sea!
