Researchers in Antarctic's Ross Sea found huge starfish, sea snails, and jellyfish with tentacles 12-feet long. The exploration of 2,000 miles of New Zealand's Antarctic waters also revealed "meadows of sea lilies" hundreds of yards across and potentially hundreds of new species, including several mollusks. From the Associated Press:
The survey was part of the International Polar Year program involving 23 countries in 11 voyages to survey marine life and habitats around Antarctica. The program hopes to set benchmarks for determining the effects of global warming on Antarctica, researchers said…Cold temperatures, a small number of predators, high levels of oxygen in the sea water and even longevity could explain the size of some specimens, said (Don) Robertson, a scientist with (the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research).
