CRYPTOLINK: Are There Still Undiscovered Sea Monsters? (Via Richard Freeman)

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It is time once again for "Hey, Science," our world-renowned feature in which we enlist real live scientific experts to answer humanity's most provocative/ dumb scientific questions. Today: Do unknown sea monsters still lurk in the deep?

Today's question, more specifically: How likely is it that there are still large (say, giant squid-sized or better) "sea monsters" that have yet to be discovered by science? Is it realistic to believe that huge new creatures from the deep could still be found? Or have we pretty much exhausted the monster mysteries of the oceans?

Gustav Paulay, curator of marine malacology, Florida Museum of Natural History:

There is a good chance that some pretty large animals remain undiscovered in deep oceans. A good example of this are the beaked whales, a group of cetaceans that is hard to encounter and new species keep getting discovered. An especially cool example is an undescribed beak whale that is being eaten in the Kiribati islands (see here).

Large invertebrates are commonly found of course, but few are giant squid sized. I would think that large fish could remain undiscovered; the megamouth shark was a good example of that a couple of decades ago.

Timothy Essington, professor of aquatic & fishery sciences, University of Washington:

Given the vastness of the ocean, I would not be at all surprised if someday some intrepid explorer discovered some bizarre new form of sea life that we never thought possible. It might be some creature of enormous size, a radically new body design, or some unique way that it "makes a living."

Read on...