Who's the Real Apex Predator?

[bowtieguy]

it's debatable that great white sharks are considered at the top of the food chain in the world's oceans. end the debate...http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wil...at-sharks.html pretty interesting--i watched a program about this last night on one of the learning channels.

i wonder if this could push them to extinction?

it seems, like us, these mammals could upset the delicate balance of life(in the ocean). mammals? i say kill them all and end global warming and everything that's wrong on earth!

[ben98gs]

Huh??? Link takes me to a Matt Maher song called "Hold Us Together"

[bowtieguy]

sorry guys--link fixed.

[FrugalFloyd]

Makos are small fry - a 6' shark against a 30' whale. Orcas outweigh Great Whites about 5 or 10 to 1 - not exactly a fair fight. Orcas won't make sharks extinct, but man may.

[bowtieguy]

Originally Posted by SentraSE-R

Makos are small fry - a 6' shark against a 30' whale. Orcas outweigh Great Whites about 5 or 10 to 1 - not exactly a fair fight. Orcas won't make sharks extinct, but man may.

5 to 10 is a big spread "Mr. stats and scientific studies." i'd lean towards 5 times the (adult)weight at the VERY outside(except THE very largest vs THE very smallest). and btw, size is not the issue, it's intelligence, so you're right in the "unfairness respect." the program i watched documented a small adult whale(~5500lb) take out a large adult shark(~3500lb). so, that particular instance was not even 2 to 1!

in fact, they showed a graph indicating the decrease in frequency of sharks visiting "sea lion" waters because of orca occupation. apparently the sharks aren't intelligent enough to avoid them--it's the smell of "their own" blood/death in the water that instinctively drives them away.