See How You Size Up Against the Biggest Animals in the Sea
A group of scientists have analyzed the body size of some of the world’s largest marine species to get a true assessment of some of the world’s massive and most storied marine organisms.
Scientists looked to accurately size up marine specimens—some of which have gotten a reputation of being larger than they really are.
“Several years ago, I noticed that people kept stating that giant squids reached 60 feet in length, which is amazingly long,” Craig McClain, assistant director of the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center in Durham, North Carolina, and the lead author of the paper said in a statement. “When I started looking at the data, I found that that estimate was actually quite unrealistic.”
That’s because the muscle fibers in squid loosen and stretch, which could account for the longer measurements taken back in the 1800s.
The scientists researched well-known giants like the great white shark, the giant octopus, the walrus, and more obscure organisms such as giant tube worms and the colossal squid to get a grasp of some of the ocean’s largest known species.
The longest animal recorded ended up being the lion’s mane jellyfish, whose extended tentacles gave the animal a length of 120 feet. However, the study said its estimate may not be the final conclusion.
“Precise, accurate, and quantified measurements matter at both a philosophical and pragmatic level,” McClain said. “Saying something is approximately ‘this big’ while holding your arms out won’t cut it, nor will inflating how large some of these animals are.”
Here’s a look at how humans stack up to some of the largest marine organisms in the ocean.
Related stories on TakePart:
• Who’s Shooting San Diego’s Sea Lions?
• Beluga Gone Bad? Gentle Giant Appears to Attack Trainer at Marineland
• SeaWorld Wants to Build the World’s Biggest Fish Farm
• California's Blue Whales Are Surviving and Thriving
Original article from TakePart
