Photo: Spiders, the new giants of the Arctic ocean

The new polar giants? A new study by American researchers finds that sea spiders in both the Antartic and Arctic oceans are growing larger than usual. Researchers with the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Antarctic Program discovered that sea spiders living in both the Antarctic and Arctic regions, while generally small in size, are now growing legs up to nine inches long. The phenomenon, known as polar gigantism, could be attributed to the abundance of oxygen in the seawater, researchers say. As Arctic oceans continue to warm and oxygen levels fall, those findings could have an impact on the conservation of sea spiders and other marine creatures. (IMAGE COURTESY OF PYCNO WATCH THIS/YOUTUBE)