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http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/03/21/healthscience/AS-SCI-Antarctic-Sea-Life.php

Scientists find giant marine life in Antarctic sea survey

WELLINGTON, New Zealand: Scientists found that some marine life doesn't come small in Antarctic waters, with giant-sized specimens surprising researchers during a major survey of New Zealand's Antarctic seas that ended this week.

Huge sea snails, jellyfish with tentacles up to 4 meters (yards) long and starfish the size of big food platters were some of the species found during research vessel Tangaroa's 50-day, 3,200-kilometer (2,000-mile) voyage in the Ross Sea, New Zealand marine scientist Don Robertson said.

"I would say there will be hundreds" of previously unknown organisms and "a lot of new species" among the 30,000 specimens collected, Robertson said.

Cold temperatures, low predator numbers, high levels of oxygen in the seawater and even longevity could explain the size of some specimens, said Robertson, a science manager with New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, or NIWA.