Marine Life Facts

The oldest known individual animal was 'Ming' the ocean quahog clam, who lived for 507 years before being discovered off the coast of Iceland in 2006.

Sea otters hold hands while sleeping to avoid drifting apart, forming groups called 'rafts' that can range from a few individuals to over a hundred.

One cubic mile of seawater contains about 25 tons of dissolved gold.

The giant squid has the largest eyes in the world.

The most powerful electric eel is found in the rivers of Brazil, Columbia, Venezuela, and Peru, and produces a shock of 400-650 volts.

A jellyfish is 95 percent water

There's a fish, known as Salema porgy, that causes severe hallucinations for up to 36 hours when ingested. During the Roman Empire, it was a party drug.

One of the largest manta rays ever caught was by Capt. A.L. Kahn in 1933 off Brielle. It weighed over 5,000 pounds and was over 20 feet wide.

A raw oyster is likely still alive when you eat it.

Dolphins sometimes have fun by blowing bubbles and creating rings of air underwater, which they then swim through.

NYC's Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) dumps old subway cars into the ocean to serve as artificial reef.

Whales and dolphins can't taste anything other than salt.

The rarest shark in the Gulf of Mexico is 5 inches long, glows in the dark, and shoots clouds of luminous fluid from tiny pockets near its fins — basically a living flashbang grenade.