Giant sea creatures found in search

Scientists are surprised by some of the giant-sized sea creatures they have found during the biggest survey of New Zealand’s Antarctic waters, they said today.

Marine scientist Don Robertson said large sea spiders, jellyfish with tentacles up to four metres long, huge sea snails and starfish the size of big food platters were found during a 50-day, 2,000-mile quest to detail marine life in Antarctic’s Ross Sea.

He says hundreds of previously unknown organisms and “a lot of new species” have been found by the survey, which collected 30,000 specimens.