Polar gigantism

 

Credit: NOAA

What you don´t know, doesn´t hurt you...

Secrets of giant Antarctic sea spiders revealed

Newly discovered Antarctic sea spider pulled up from ocean floor

Itsy witsy spider

 

A short but perhaps representative overview of "giant spider" sightings from all over the world, plus a discussion on how plausible they are. The conclusion reached is: not very. Apart from the fact that spiders simply can´t grow larger than a certain size, I would also argue that giant specimens are ecologically absurd. 

A breeding population of dog-sized spiders (or even larger) would have a dramatic impact on any eco-system in which they live, and simply wouldn´t be able to avoid detection for long. Also, really wild areas are diminishing by the hour, yet no cryptids found anywhere, dangling out of the last unfelled trees in the jungle...

Note the bizarre story about giant "sea spiders" around Greenland. Probably not true either, given the reality of industrial over-fishing!