It was common practice among medieval cartographers to draw all sorts of sea monsters in areas of the ocean that were unexplored or believed to be dangerous. And while it may seem we are running out of unexplored spaces on our maps these days, there yet remains one final frontier where monsters do indeed live: the deep ocean.
As the water darkens, the creatures get stranger, developing all sorts of mutations to better adapt to the pitch black, high-pressure environment. Many creatures in the bathyal zone of the sea are blind as sunlight barely penetrates that deep into the water, and the only other light comes from marine life that has developed bioluminescence as a way to attract prey or protection.
Here are some of the most alien and frightening deep sea animals:
1. Giant Squid
Straight out of tales of kraken, colossal tentacled beasts who bring ships down to the bottom of the ocean, comes the giant squid: a predator that can reach 43 feet in length. It feeds by grasping its prey with sucker rings attached to its two tentacles (its other limbs are more correctly referred to as arms) and tearing it apart with its powerful beak and saw-like tongue.
