Giant Animals Found In Antarctic Search
Editors Note- It seems every big expedition to Antarctica reveals fascinating secrets about the ocean. I wonder how long before we see really great photos of these creatures, and others, that are in the region. It seems most photography there is about the megafauna...I guess we can add these jellies and starfish to that list then!
A 2,000-mile journey through the Ross Sea that ended Thursday has also potentially turned up several new species, including as many as eight new molluscs.
It's "exciting when you come across a new species," said Chris Jones, a fisheries scientist at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "All the fish people go nuts about that -- but you have to take it with a grain of salt."
The finds must still be reviewed by experts to determine if they are in fact new, said Stu Hanchet, a fisheries scientist at New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research.
But beyond the discovery of new species, scientists said the survey, the most comprehensive to date in the Ross Sea, turned up other surprises.
Hanchet singled out the discovery of "fields" of sea lilies that stretched for hundreds of yards across the ocean floor.
"Some of these big meadows of sea lilies I don't think anybody has seen before," Hanchet said.
Previously only small-scale scientific samplings have been staged in the Ross Sea.
