Colossal Sea Creatures - Beauty Of Earths Waters

Our planet is an amazing place and with 71% of the planet being covered in water, some of the most amazing species and creatures reside there in a habitat suited just for them, mostly distant from our ground dwelling cities. Here is a minimal list of some of those amazing creatures.


[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/60da775935b8.jpg[/atsimg]

The world’s largest creatures reside in the ocean, and its depths are home to unusual species whose surprising proportions are unknown on land.
Here, an underwater view captures the billowing tentacles of a lion’s mane jellyfish. The most potent species of jellyfish, the lion’s mane can reach a diameter of 6.6 feet (2 meters) with tentacles topping 49 feet (15 meters).

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/401d3c32c1b6.jpg[/atsimg]

The largest fish in the sea, the whale shark can reach lengths of 40 feet (12 meters) or more. The gentle giants are filter feeders, swimming with their wide mouths open to collect plankton and small fish.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/d07c5627a241.jpg[/atsimg]

Rows of large spines cover giant-spined sea stars off the coast of California. Sea stars (also known as starfish) can regenerate limbs, and in some cases, entire bodies.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/e1dfa099fdc4.jpg[/atsimg]

A giant spider crab is illuminated by the lights of a submersible. Protected from some predators by its hard exoskeleton, the creature—which can grow to ten feet (three meters) wide—can also blend in with the ocean floor. Under deeper cover, it can disappear beneath the sponges and other marine life it uses to adorn its shell.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/cbc208f245c0.jpg[/atsimg]

Even as a baby, a blue whale can make a grown man look like a minnow. The largest creature ever to live, the blue whale averages 25 feet (7.6 meters) long at birth and weighs about three tons. As an adult, it can easily stretch to the length of a city bus and weigh close to 200 tons.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/7378ac26fa33.jpg[/atsimg]

Often mistaken for a jellyfish, the Portuguese man-of-war is actually made up of a colony of organisms working together. Its tentacles can extend 165 feet (50 meters) below the surface, although 30 feet (10 meters) is more the average.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/c50e45b7d6cc.jpg[/atsimg]

The fin whale is the second largest creature on Earth, reaching maximum lengths of 82 feet (25 meters) for males and 89 feet (27 meters) for females. Fins are baleen whales: They use the fringelike baleen in their mouths to strain krill and tiny fish from the massive amounts of water they ingest as they feed.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/d271f110b033.jpg[/atsimg]

Related to shrimp and crabs, the giant isopod is a deep-sea crustacean that makes its home on the ocean floor. It is the largest of the known isopods, which on land includes the relatively tiny pill bug.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/3a3f22fb1b3e.jpg[/atsimg]

A great white shark swims in the clear waters off Guadalupe Island. The largest predatory fish on Earth, great whites grow to an average of 15 feet (4.6 meters) in length, though larger specimens have been recorded. They prey mainly on sea lions, seals, and small toothed whales.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/22e87b42f9d3.jpg[/atsimg]

The largest mollusks on Earth, adult giant clams permanently affix themselves to surfaces such as sand or coral reef rubble. The behemoths are capable of reaching 4 feet (1.2 meters) long and weighing more than 500 pounds (227 kilograms). They can live a hundred years or more in the wild.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/966e996c0c39.jpg[/atsimg]

A giant clam’s siphon is used to draw in water to filter and consume passing plankton. Though South Pacific legends describe clams that lie in wait to trap unsuspecting swimmers or swallow them whole, no account of a human death by giant clam has ever been substantiated.

Source

Behold the beauty of the water!

Amazing pictures. It is crazy how we have so many different types of creatures living on this planet in so many different styles of ecosystems. I love this kind of stuff. Thank you.

Beautiful shots that you took the time to compiled.

We share our planet with them and more. Even if we go on to destroy them deliberately or inadvertently. It will be a sad world if they are found only in photos.

Wow thanks for posting these.S&F

I only a few weeks ago learned about the giant Isopod.
The Star fish Huh
An entire body ? How ?

Maybe you like my thread to. Althoug it's only about 3 species formerly known as one.

It is the ultimate predator. Next to man it has no enemies.

Orcas are more than one species, gene study shows