From the most feared creatures in the world to some gentle giants, these are the world’s
largest sea animals!
13.
Great White Shark
Let’s start with one of the most renowned giants of the ocean: the great white shark.
This frightening fish has been around for at least sixteen million years, according
to fossil records.
They live in nearly all coastal areas where the water is between fifty-four and seventy-five
degrees Fahrenheit.
But, some places are known to have more great whites than others, including Northeastern
United States and California, Japan, South Africa, Chile, and a few others.
Dyer Island, South Africa is recognized as having one of the densest great white populations.
These aquatic beasts can grow up to a shocking sixteen feet in length and weigh as much as
two thousand four hundred fifty pounds on average.
If that wasn’t impressive enough - some females have been estimated at twenty feet
long and four thousand two hundred pounds.
Although I’m sure you have the image of Jaws in your head right now, most great whites
aren’t maneaters.
In fact, even if they do bite, it’s usually by accident while chasing a fish or out of
curiosity.
A National Geographic article from February 2019 says people shouldn’t avoid going in
the water out of fear of sharks.
In 2018, there were just one hundred thirty - provoked and unprovoked - incidents involving
sharks.
12.
Ocean Sunfish
Also known as the common mola, this species is one of the world’s heaviest known bony
fish.
“Mola” means “millstone” in Latin, referring to the color and shape of the fish.
The word “sunfish” was chosen in English because these creatures enjoy bathing in the
sun near the surface of the water.
Its body is flattened, giving it a narrow, elliptical shape when viewed from the front.
Ocean sunfish are often as tall as they are long, and there are records of these fish
growing up to an incredible ten and a half feet in height!
But, the average length is around eight feet from fin to fin.
Adult sunfish can weigh up to over two thousand two hundred five pounds - although some weighing
up to five thousand one hundred pounds have been discovered.
As you probably guessed, the ocean sunfish can be found in tropical and temperate waters
of all of Earth’s oceans.
If you saw one of these big guys sunbathing near you, you’d probably swim away as quickly
as possible.
But, don’t be too afraid!
Ocean sunfish feed on small fish, larvae, crustaceans, jellyfish, and squid.
11.
Portuguese Man-of-War
Although this creature looks very similar to a jellyfish, the Portuguese man-of-war,
also known as a “blue bottle” in Australia, is a siphonophore.
The difference is that jellyfish are single organisms while siphonophores are colonial
organisms.
Blue bottles may not seem very large at first glance because their bodies grow up to about
a foot long.
But, their tentacles average at about thirty-three feet long and can grow up to ninety-eight
feet.
They’re also to blame for about ten thousand stings on people every summer in Australia.
Plus, detached tentacles or deceased blue bottles can sting as effectively as live ones
for hours or days following the detachment or demise.
The sting is extremely painful, lasting up to three hours, and leaves welts on the person’s
skin.
Unfortunately for the victims, the blue bottle’s venom can travel to the lymph nodes, resulting
in symptoms similar to an allergic reaction.
This includes swelling, airway blockage, and difficulty or inability to breath.
Once in a while, an unlucky person succumbs to the blue bottle’s sting.
10.
Giant Manta Ray
As its name suggests, this oceanic animal is the largest ray on Earth.
It can reach up to twenty-three feet across and weigh up to an incredible six thousand
six hundred pounds.
Giant manta rays are found throughout tropical and temperate waters all over the world.
Chances are you won’t see one in the wild, however - these massive creatures generally
dwell far away from shore, traveling from place to place with the currents.
Plus, there are only a couple of giant mantas in captivity.
Since late 2018, the French Nausicaa Centre de la Mer and Japanese Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium
are the only places to have had a giant manta ray.
These animals also have one of the largest brains of any fish, and it’s believed they
might exhibit self-awareness.
9.
Giant Barrel Sponge
This species of sponge is the largest of its kind and is found throughout reefs in the
Bahamas, Caribbean Sea, Bermuda, parts of Florida’s reefs, and the Gulf of Mexico.
The giant barrel is a filter feeder, meaning water pumps through its sides continuously,
allowing it to ingest various microscopic bacteria.
It can reach six feet in diameter and is a brownish-red hue - the result of photosynthetic
symbiotic cyanobacteria.
8.
Japanese Spider Crab
If you love crab legs, then you’ll be excited to hear about this monstrous crustacean.
Although, you might not be too quick to take one on after you hear how big it grows.
The Japanese spider crab has the most significant leg span of all arthropods, reaching up to
eighteen feet from claw to claw.
Its body only grows up to about sixteen inches, and the crab can weigh up to forty-two pounds.
Despite their incredible size, Japanese spider crabs are masters of camouflage.
Their bumpy texture helps them blend with the ocean’s rocky bottom, and they often
cover themselves with sponges to further integrate with their surroundings.
7.
Giant Pacific Octopus
This enormous creature is found in various places around the world, including Alaska,
Russia, along California, and the coastal North Pacific.
They roam a wide area within the ocean from the intertidal zone down to six thousand six
hundred feet, but they are adapted mostly to oxygen-rich, cold water.
The giant Pacific octopus is the largest of its kind with some specimens weighing up to
one hundred ten pounds and having a twenty-foot arm span.
Plus, these guys can propel themselves at speeds up to twenty-five miles per hour for
short distances; so, they’d look pretty frightening in the water.
They also have paralytic toxins in their salivary glands to help them finish their prey.
Luckily for us, the giant Pacific octopus generally eats shellfish, fish, and other
octopuses, although they’re known to eat whatever food source is nearby.
In 2012, an amateur photographer captured a giant octopus on camera attacking, drowning,
and eating a seagull.
6.
Giant Sea Star
Let’s take a break from the terrifying sea creatures for a minute and talk about one
of the ocean’s most striking.
The giant sea star, or pisaster giganteus, lives on rocky shores along North America’s
western coast.
These animals are generally reddish-brown or tan and sometimes exhibit a greyish or
yellow surface.
But, their blue spines make them truly unique.
These spines are adorned with white, purple, or pink tips as well, which are swollen and
surrounded by pedicellariae - claw-like appendages - and brown fuzz.
Plus, each starfish is different since they have no particular pattern.
Giant sea stars usually feed on gastropods, bivalves, limpets, and barnacles.
These eye-catching animals grow up to twenty-four inches in diameter.
5.
Blue Whale
We couldn’t have a list about the largest sea animals without the most massive creature
known to man - the blue whale.
This whale’s overall shape differs from others of its kind because it is long and
tapered instead of stocky.
It has a flat, U-shaped head and a conspicuous ridge that spans from its blowhole to its
upper lip.
Blue whales have about three hundred baleen plates in the front region of their mouths,
which each reach over three feet long.
These plates allow the whale to filter feed.
Blue whales grow up to ninety-eight feet long and can we as much as one hundred ninety tons.
Even when these gentle giants are babies, they weigh up to an impressive five thousand
nine hundred fifty pounds.
Although they’re tremendous, blue whales aren’t predatory creatures; their diets
are made almost entirely of krill, and they ingest up to forty million of the tiny crustaceans
every day.
4.
Giant Oarfish
This less-than-appealing-looking animal is also known as the king of herrings, streamer
fish, Pacific oarfish, and ribbonfish, and it is the longest bony fish in the world.
This species is found all over and is believed to migrate to follow its primary source of
food.
The giant oarfish reaches up to thirty-six feet long, and longer ones reaching fifty-six
feet have been reported but aren’t confirmed.
The heaviest specimen on record weighed six hundred pounds.
Luckily for us, these fish have no teeth, only gill rakers used for consuming tiny prey.
3 Lion’s Mane Jellyfish
This alien-looking creature is the most significantly sized jellyfish in the world.
Unlike many of the other animals on this list, the lion’s mane jellyfish can only be found
in the cold, boreal waters of the northern Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic oceans.
This species earned its name because of its long, trailing, hairlike tentacles that give
the impression of a lion’s mane.
They vary in size from twenty inches in bell diameter up to six foot seven inches, and
their size seems to determine their coloration.
The massive specimens range from dark purple to bright crimson, and smaller lion’s manes
are usually tan or light orange and sometimes have no color whatsoever.
Although this species looks threatening, human stings generally result in redness and temporary
pain and aren’t known to be fatal if the victim is healthy.
2.
Whale Shark
Although this species is the largest known fish still in existence, it is a filter feeder
that feeds on plankton and small fish.
It doesn’t pose a threat to people and is known to be docile - sometimes swimmers can
even catch a ride with one by holding one of its fins.
Whale sharks grow up to an average size of thirty-two feet and twenty thousand pounds,
but specimens over fifty feet long and weighing nearly eighty thousand pounds have been reported.
Whale sharks live in all of Earth’s tropical and warm waters, but they remain mostly in
the open sea.
1.
Giant Squid
Number one on our list of the world’s largest sea animals goes to none other than the elusive
giant squid.
This enormous creature has earned a place in nearly everyone’s mind as terrifying
because studying it hasn’t been easy.
Cultural ideas of the giant squid have added to people’s imaginations as well.
It has made its way in books like Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and Moby-Dick in the
form of the Kraken, a legendary sea monster known to terrify sailors and sink ships.
The first photographs of a giant squid in the wild weren’t taken until September 2004,
and they were released to the public a year later.
Then, in 2006, the first video was taken.
Just recently, in 2019, scientists managed to capture a juvenile giant squid on camera
in the Gulf of Mexico.
It was about twelve feet long.
But, this species can grow much, much larger.
The maximum length of a giant squid is estimated at forty-three feet, but undocumented sightings
suggest it could reach over sixty-six feet long.
How would you react if you encountered one of these ocean creatures in the wild?
Let us know in the comments below!
And, as always, thanks for watching!