The giants lurking in the deep sea

The bathypelagic zone of the ocean is 1,000 to 4,000 meters below the surface. Sometimes it's called the midnight zone, because it's too deep for sunlight to reach. Most animals here are much smaller than their shallow-water counterparts. But occasionally, researchers find the rare deep sea giant: giant isopods, giant squids, colossal squids, sea spiders. While these giants sound like the subjects of some people's nightmares, deep sea biologist Craig McClain dreams about them. And today on the show, he helps unravel the mystery and research behind these creatures.

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This episode was produced by Hannah Chinn and Rachel Carlson. It was edited by Rebecca Ramirez and fact-checked by Tyler Jones. Jimmy Keeley was the audio engineer.