15 Biggest Sea Monsters Ever

what makes a big animal in the ocean a sea monster it can't just be the way that they look is it a mouthful of razor sharp teeth is it long poisonous tentacles or the ability to move at breakneck speeds or is it simply the epic-sized giants roaming the sea huge beasts lurking in the deep blue looking for food that makes it a monster from massive sharks to skinny extra-long worms to squishy stinging squid and even a fish lizard here are the 15 biggest sea monsters ever don't forget to smash the like button subscribe to the supreme and click the notification bell for more lit content let's get rolling number 15 the megalodon the first on our list is a real superstar not only is the megalodon or meg the biggest shark in the world but it's also one of the largest fish to have ever existed estimates suggest it grew to between 40 to 60 feet in length three times longer than the largest recorded great white shark the earliest megalodon fossils date back to 20 million years ago for the next 13 million years this enormous shark dominated the ocean without a complete megalodon skeleton though these figures are based on the size of the animal's humongous teeth which can reach a whopping 7 inches long in fact the word megalodon simply means large tooth with its large serrated teeth the mag was definitely a carnivore chowing down on whales and large fish and probably other sharks when you're that big you need to eat a lot of food this enormous shark had a giant mouth too it's estimated that its jaw would span up to 10 feet wide easily big enough to swallow two adult people side by side crunch this incredible beast is also hollywood's box office gold the 2018 science fiction the meg grossed over 500 million dollars worldwide and yes a sequel is definitely in the works number 14 deep sea crocodiles at over 30 feet long and weighing in at three tons these deadly prehistoric crocodiles evolved from their land-living ancestors to become fast swimming predators of the deep blue sea they adapted their limbs into flippers streamlined their bodies and formed fluked tails to help them more powerfully through the water the deep sea crocodiles made their first steps into the water during a long semi-aquatic phase their ear canals became markedly fatter and smaller and over time mimicked the shape and senses of whales and dolphins to dominate jurassic seas new research was found experts from the university of edinburgh found that they adapted a part of the inner ear responsible for balance and equilibrium and they gradually adjusted to their new ocean home 170 million years ago number 13. the boot lace worm scuba divers have become accustomed to tales of monster sea worms but an example discovered recently off western australia seems to have changed the game for such sightings with an estimated length greater than any other known animal at around 45 meters a worm bigger than an animal yeah it's true the gelatinous bootlace worm which in a nutshell is a string of free swimming hydrozones each with the ability to clone itself was discovered during a month-long expedition the bootlace worm was also known as ribbon worms or probiscus worms and usually around 15 to 50 feet in length but can be up to 180 feet long and when this super long worm is irritated it releases large amounts of thick mucus that's poisonous and can paralyze and kill crustaceans and other small sea creatures but is not so dangerous for mammals today similar neurotoxins that have been extracted from snakes spiders and cone shells are used in pharmaceuticals pharmacological tools and biotechnology and as agricultural insecticides and it's totally possible that the toxins from the bootlace worm can also be used in similar ways yay science number 12 the chronosaurus pliosaurs aka the kronosaurus were a fearsome family of marine reptiles characterized by their massive heads short necks and relatively broad flippers as opposed to their close cousins the plesiosaurs which had smaller heads longer necks and more streamlined torsos measuring 33 feet from snout to tail and weighing in the neighborhood of 7 to 10 tons chronosaurs were on the upper end of the pliosaur psi scale originally discovered near queensland australia in the 1920s where they've since been several cronosaur fossils found in the rocks of the great artesian basin some almost 200 million years ago the kronosaurus jaws contained rows of large conical teeth the biggest of which were over 10 inches long making it a fierce predator remains of its stomach contents indicated it fed on turtles and other smaller marine reptiles the giant teeth of the kronosaurus enabled it to crush the shells of the huge shellfish that lived in the same sea and its sheer size meant that it could have eaten just about anything it wanted because of these terrifying qualities it was named by queensland paleontologist heber longman after the god kronos a mythical greek god so horrible the story goes he ate his own children number 11. giant oarfish the giant oarfish which have been known to reach up to a whopping 110 feet long and weigh 600 pounds is considered a deep sea fish however occasionally the slender beast is found washed ashore dead on beaches let's take a look at the monstrous fish the king of herrings in all its glory oarfish are typically found at depths of about 656 feet but can lurk as deep as about 3 280 feet according to the florida museum of natural history in the deep seas of the eastern atlantic ocean and mediterranean sea the origin of the oarfish name is unknown but because of its long thin shape the oarfish fish is sometimes known as a ribbon fish even though it's a deep water species it's not too uncommon to see an oarfish these long silver creatures have been known to wash ashore on beaches after storms they also have a habit of floating near the surface of the water when they're sick or dying because of this it's believed that the oarfish may be responsible for many of the legendary sightings of sea monsters and sea serpents by ancient mariners and beach goers but the oarfish is thriving and not considered to be an endangered species [Music] number 10 the ichthyosaur in 2016 amateur fossil hunter paul de la salle was walking the beach in somerset in the southwest of england when he found a large fossil greek for fish lizard he believed it belonged to an ichthyosaur a dolphin-shaped carnivorous marine reptile with a long toothy snout that lived in the oceans during the age of the dinosaurs he continued to search the area discovering more pieces of the fossil which when fit together make up a 3.2 foot section of jawbone the bones were dated to 205 million years ago and estimated that in life the ichthyosaur would have been up to 85 feet long ichthyosaurs appeared during the start of the triassic some 250 million years ago and at their height they filled many niches from ambush predator to suction feeder one of the most successful animals in the ocean but about 90 million years ago almost 25 million years before the dinosaurs disappeared the massive fish lizard died out researchers are still trying to understand what drove these sea reptiles to extinction number nine giant manta rays the giant manta ray is the largest ray and one of the largest fishes in the world reaching widths of up to 29 feet and weighing over 5000 pounds the manta rays are much larger than any other ray species for many decades there was only one known species of manta but scientists recently divided that species into two the giant manta ray which is a more oceanic species and the reef manta ray which is more coastal in nature similar to the largest fishes whale shark and basking shark and the largest mammals blue whale they also eat tiny plankton they constantly swim along with their large mouths open drinking in plankton and other small food to aid in this strategy giant mantas have specialized flaps known as cephalic lobes which help direct more water and food into their mouths and these giant manta rays are found worldwide in tropical subtropical and temperate waters and are commonly seen offshore in oceanic waters and near productive coastlines giant mantas are known to undergo long migrations and may visit colder waters for short periods of the year and can dive over 3 000 feet did you know giant manta rays have the biggest brains of any fish studied so far they use their brain power to learn about their environment exercise their memory distinguish between objects and even recognize themselves in the mirror but can they take a selfie number eight ancient amphibious whale the whales we know today look nothing like they did millions of years ago instead today's whales and dolphins evolved 50 million years ago from small four-legged animals with hooves crazy right rather than being one of the largest creatures on earth as they are now they came from creatures that were the size of an average dog scientists had known that the whale's body shape had changed over the years making the creatures better adapted to life in the water however they didn't know how the creature had moved from south asia to south america and early whale ancestors were not fully aerodynamic like whales are today the particularly interesting missing link discovered in india suggests that the last whale ancestors took to the waters in times of danger but came into land to give birth and eat they had long toes that were mostly webbed meaning they moved a lot like today's otters and that's probably how they crossed the atlantic ocean researchers guessed today a giant otter type whale still existed would have to swim a long way to migrate but at that time in the earth's history the distance between africa and south america was two times shorter and the currents were strong number seven the greenland shark greenland sharks are now the longest living vertebrates known on earth scientists say researchers determined the ages of 28 of the animals and estimated that one female was about 400 years old now that's old native to the north atlantic and arctic waters around greenland canada and iceland while shark diversity is low in this region species that live there can grow to enormous sizes and greenland sharks can too reaching over 22 feet in length and can weigh over a ton easily this makes them the second largest carnivorous shark after the white shark while known to be scavengers they're also opportunistic predators and will ambush prey to conserve energy they tend to take a craftier approach sneaking up on prey while they sleep and there have also been reports of greenland sharks attacking caribou as they drink from the banks of the river an entire reindeer including the antlers was discovered in the stomach contents of one individual while the remains of a polar bear have been found in others healthy appetites indeed but greenland sharks are slow when you live in icy cold waters conserving energy is vital to the shark's survival cruising at around one foot per second greenland sharks are the slowest sharks in the world interesting fact because of their long life greenland sharks may still be recovering from being overfished before world war ii the shark's livers were once used for machine oil but not anymore a synthetic alternative was found and the greenland shark was free to swim around unharmed just very very slowly number six lion's mane jellyfish the lion's mane jellyfish cannot be missed in the open ocean with tentacles up to 120 feet long even rivaling in size the blue whale the largest animal in the world and most lion's mane jellyfish can be found in the arctic and north pacific ocean from alaska to washington where the waters are cool its lion's mane of long hair-like tentacles hanging from the underside of its bell-shaped body is the inspiration behind the name of course this unusual creature's mouth is situated on the bell's underside surrounded by tentacles that are divided into eight clusters of up to 150 tentacles each these tentacles are equipped with deadly poison and with a powerful sting the lion's mane jellyfish feasts on small fish tiny crustaceans and even other jellyfish to satisfy its appetite and they never stop swimming lion's mane jellyfish are continual swimmers and can cover huge distances but most prefer to swim solo although large swarms of jellyfish occasionally happen when storms and tides are active and they can glow the lion's mane jellyfish also possesses bioluminescent abilities meaning it's able to produce its own light and glow in the dark underwater shine on jellyfish shine on number five the elasmosaurus ever heard about the monster that lives in loch ness a freshwater lake in scotland a monster with the very cute nickname nessie well some say that monster is the elasmosaurus at close to 50 feet long this long-necked reptile was one of the biggest plesiosaurs to ever exist and its neck is about half the length of its entire body and supported by a whopping 71 vertebrae your typical plesiosaur had 60 vertebrae they weren't equipped with gills though like fish and sharks and couldn't live below water 24 hours a day but it's possible that a single gulp of air could fuel this marine reptile for 10 to 20 minutes in the 1800s shortly after the end of the civil war a military doctor in western kansas discovered a fossil of the giant reptile and if you're wondering how a giant marine reptile ended up in landlocked kansas remember the american west was covered by a shallow body of water the western interior sea during the late cretaceous period over 65 million years ago so how did the elasmosaurus end up in scotland judging by possible hoax photographs you could say that the loch ness monster looks a lot like the elasmosaurus some believers insist that a population of these epic reptiles has managed to survive in the northern reaches of scotland who can say for real we know now because of the elasmosaurus extra long neck that this marine reptile was incapable of holding its neck out of the water making it pretty tough to snap a great photo number 4 japanese spider crab the japanese spider crab is a large and strange catch for any fisherman with a leg span of 13 feet and an average weight of around 40 pounds it wins the title of largest crab it's important to note that this creature really is mostly legs with its body only reaching about a foot and a half across in size but that's what makes their appearance so terrifying when you're the biggest crab in the sea and you only have a few predators out there to worry about what do you decide to eat well the answer is pretty much anything smaller than you they're not exactly hunters but these crabs have been known to eat algae kelp mollusks slow-moving invertebrates and the dead bodies of any creatures that happen to be floating around in fact they seem to prefer to scavenge dead flesh rather than kill things themselves and to avoid predators like octopus they're known to be a type of decorator crab and pick up things from their environment like sponges and kelp to attach to their bodies in order to appear like another part of the ocean floor however their legs are pretty weak and can break easily about three quarters of these crabs that have been caught were missing a limb but that's just fine for these crabs they can quite happily survive while missing up to three of their limbs as if nothing at all had happened what's more is that there is evidence that these guys can actually regenerate their legs on their own so even if one goes missing they're likely to regrow a fresh one over the next few years number three the whale shark whale sharks are gorgeous peaceful slow-moving filter feeders which can grow up to 40 feet in length and weigh 20 tons with a lifespan that's estimated to be 70 to 100 years old and although whale sharks have about 3 000 tiny teeth less than an inch long they don't use them much the biggest fish in the sea is a slow-moving docile giant feeding by filtering plankton plus squid krill and small fish into their huge mouths sometimes a whale shark will lazily swim with its mouth wide open a low energy feeding technique that allows the gentle giant to swallow any food items that might be in its path but when it sees a dense cluster of delicious little morsels the animal creates suction by quickly opening and closing its jaws pulling dinner into its carnivorous mouth generally whale sharks which are tropical and subtropical fish will move around a lot in three years a single whale shark can travel 8 000 miles or more huge schools of whale sharks visit exotic locations like the galapagos islands and the yucatan peninsula every summer to gorge on plankton still their total life expectancy is unknown but according to experts this big fish probably die in their 60s others speculate that whale sharks can live to be 100 or even 150 years old and while it's not known what the global whale shark population is the species is considered endangered and in 2009 experts discovered what's believed to be the smallest living whale shark only 15 inches long the baby whale shark was found on a beach in the philippines oh that's adorable number two ocean sunfish the ocean sunfish is a very large oddly sun-shaped fish that gets its name from its habit of floating on its side warming itself at the sea surface enjoying the hot rays of the sun it is the heaviest bony fish in the world reaching weights at over 5 000 pounds and the distance from the top of the dorsal to the bottom can be as much as 14 feet ocean sunfish are foraging predators that will eat a variety of food but their preferred prey are jellyfish which are almost exclusively made up of water and are low in calories and nutrients so a fish with a body as large as adults are too large to be threatened by anything but the absolute largest predators in the ocean but the smaller sunfish are a favorite meal of sea lions killer whales and large sharks but of course there's always one sea creature with an unusual sense of humor california sea lions are known to bite the fins off a small ocean sunfish and then play with them like they're frisbees really guys really number one magnapinisquid magnapinisquids are one of the deep sea's more ethereal unusual creatures little is known of these squids as very few have ever been captured although over the last decade with the increased usage of remotely operated vehicles more and more video is emerging of these strange animals their fins are up to 90 percent of the length of their body and they have ridiculously long arms and as you can see the squid often will hold some of their arms at a 90 degree angle from the side of their body which gives them the appearance of having elbows the magnapina squid sometimes referred to as the big fin or long arm squid is around 26 feet in length with thin elastic tentacles thought to be between 15 to 20 times larger than the squid's body yikes that's a lot very little is known about the feeding behavior of these squid although scientists believe that they feed by dragging their arms and tentacles along the seafloor grabbing organisms off the floor but they may use a simple trapping technique waiting for prey to bump into their super long arms magna pinna squids were first discovered in 1907 but it wasn't until 1988 that the first footage was filmed off the coast of brazil those were 15 of the biggest sea monsters ever we'll see you next time you

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Keywords: biggest, sea, monsters, ever, biggest sea monsters, sea monsters, largest, sea creatures, largest creatures, biggest creatures, biggest sea monsters ever, top, top15, top 15, the supreme, countdown, megalodon, the meg, the megalodon, monster, sea monster, biggest sea monster, large, big, giant, giant creatures, animals, animal, deep sea, deep sea crocodile, mysterious creatures, sea creature, deep sea monsters, largest sea monsters, scary animals, bootlace worm, kronosaurus, lists, new, 2020

Id: vyVo_ODplIs

Length: 21min 47sec (1307 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 21 2020