Marine animals: The ocean can be a pretty frightening place. Just ask anyone who decides to take a dip shortly after watching Jaws. Any horror movie fan will attest that sometimes even more frightening than what we can see, is what we don’t, because our imaginations are often more terrifying than what’s really out there. This is one of the many things that makes the deep, dark depths of the ocean a little more bone chilling. There are a number of very valid reasons why creatures who live in the deep, dark sea look so different, and are so much scarier than us fellow land dwellers.
Food is pretty scarce, and it’s very dark at the bottom of the ocean floor, this means that those who live there have adapted to be able to survive and thrive in their living circumstances. The way they’ve adapted to their habitat impacts their morphology (their body form, structure, and the way they look both internally and externally).
This means they may look horrendously spine chilling to us humans, but they have found the perfect adaptation to suit their environment. While many of these creatures simply look frightening, what is truly blood curdling is the way that many of them need to hunt to survive. These are the creatures in the darkest depths of the ocean, if you saw them you’d probably scream, but this is the thing about the ocean— no one can hear your cries for help under all of that water, so good luck with that. Let’s take a deep exploratory dive into the creepiest, scariest creatures of the ocean.
13. Stonefish
The existence of the Stonefish is proof that you don’t need to be the biggest to be the baddest creature in the sea. At an average size of 30 to 40cms and weighing in at around 2kg (or five pounds), the Stonefish is the most venomous fish in the entire world. There are five different species of these fish who are native to the coastal regions of the Indo-Pacific oceans. Although they have 13 spines filled with venomous sacs, this is not how they kill their prey. They’re actually shockingly fast, being capable of an attack in 0.015 seconds flat despite moving very slowly when they aren’t on the hunt! Stonefish won’t attack people, however, humans are in most danger when they step on the Stonefish’s spine, releasing the venom. If you suspect you’ve stepped on a stonefish seek medical attention right away, the venom can cause intense pain, heart failure, and death if not treated. Another terrifying fact about this creature is that it can live for up to 24 hours out of water, so watch where you step both in the sea and on land.
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