Before reading this article, please click "Follow", which is not only convenient for you to discuss and share, but also can bring you a different sense of participation, thank you for your support.
Text, Editor/Xu Chenyuan's study
There are more than 20,000 species of life in the ocean, and in addition to the colorful algae and corals that sway on the bottom of the sea, and various fish that swim back and forth in groups, there are many large creatures that are terrifying.
For example, in some deep-sea areas, there is such a group of huge bloodthirsty monsters, they have fangs and sharp mouths, extremely sensitive to the smell of blood, as long as the slightest breath is captured by them, they will quickly start the terrifying hunting mode, they are the overlord of the ocean Great White Shark.
Of course, when nature creates such a discolored beast, it will also follow the principle of "one thing descends one thing" of the biological chain, and evolved another ocean powerhouse that can compete with the great white shark - killer whales, although the killer whales we see in many aquariums are trained to be well-behaved and cute, and can cooperate with trainers to interact with people intimately, but don't forget that it also has a terrible name, that is, killer whales.
So what happens when two thugs who are rampant and domineering in the deep sea meet, and who is more combative?
1. Introduction to the basic information of the great white shark
The great white shark is considered to be the oldest creature on the earth, as early as 400 million years before the birth of humans, of course, during this time, it is constantly evolving itself to adapt to the earth's climate temperature and changes between land and sea, so it also uses characteristics that other creatures do not have.
Compared to other sea creatures, it is the only creature that can stand its head upright and its body is perpendicular to the surface of the sea, which is why it is convenient for it to search for prey around it, and why great white sharks living in the deep sea suddenly appear in shallow waters to attack humans.
In addition to this feature, it also has a unique skill, which is the ability to control its own body temperature at all times higher than the temperature of the sea.
Previously, the American biological research team also did an experiment on this, they tied a body temperature sensor to the body of the great white shark, tracking the change of body temperature, the results showed that no matter what the sea temperature it is in, its body temperature is always a few degrees higher than the ambient temperature, which is actually a characteristic of higher vertebrates.
The largest surviving specimen of the great white shark in the world today is 6.4 meters long and weighs 3,300 kilograms, but this is not the largest, an adult great white shark can grow up to 9 meters, and its body is very thick and spindle-shaped.
2. Analysis of the predation and attack ability of great white sharks
Speaking of the reason why it is called the "man-eating shark", it must be mentioned that its predation method, the great white shark can be said to eat is not refused, all the creatures swimming in the ocean, basically its meal, the meat in the mouth, as small as crabs, jellyfish, smaller than him sharks, seals, seabirds resting on the water, as large as the same huge whales and the corpses of some land mammals, and even humans will not let go.
In February 2022, on a beach in Sydney, Australia, there was a tragic scene, a great white shark suddenly appeared in a small bay near the beach, when a man happened to swim here, before he came back to his senses, the great white shark bit his lower body, and kept shaking his body, the man's screams alarmed the surroundings
people, but when they arrived, they could only do nothing but watch the man be unfortunately torn in half.
The great white shark relies mainly on its teeth for predation, from the appearance, it has a large mouth that covers most of the face, and because of the short jaw, its teeth are exposed even when the mouth is closed, and the great white shark has the largest number of teeth among marine creatures, about 44 in total, and each tooth is very sharp and thick.
This sharp tooth makes the great white shark have a super bite ability, the teeth on the edge of the two rows are like sawtooth, which can easily cut through the body of the prey, and the middle teeth are like an electric drill bit, piercing straight into the opponent's body, once it bites, the probability of escaping is almost zero.
3. Introduction to the basic information of killer whales
Speaking of killer whales, it is also known as orcas, which belongs to the large cetaceans of the mammals toothed cetacean dolphin family, and is also the largest known dolphin creature in the world, mainly distributed in several oceanic coastal and deep-sea areas, and is a well-known apex predator.
From the appearance of the killer whale body, the adult male killer whale is generally between 6-9 meters in length, and the maximum weight can reach 6000 kilograms, the largest known male killer whale weighs about 11 tons, and an adult female killer whale can grow to 5-7 meters, which is smaller than the male in size.
The killer whale's back is black as a whole, it looks very black and shiny as if it has been smeared with a thick layer of oil, the color of the abdomen is between white and gray, the body line is very smooth, and it has a round head, and it has a sharp tooth like a great white shark, which helps it hunt smoothly.
Like humans, killer whales are also social animals, and the degree of socialization is very high, the number of killer whales in a group is as small as a single digit, large enough to accommodate hundreds of individuals, and killer whales live in a matrilineal society, female killer whales have the highest status, and also shoulder the responsibility of raising young killer whales, will teach them various experiences in the ocean, such as how to hunt, how to Xi learn specific behaviors.
They also have a very high IQ, which also makes their behavior of transmitting information to each other very complicated, killer whales can make a rich sound, different sounds convey different information, and the sound can travel tens of kilometers away, so that they can hunt together.
4. Analysis of killer whale's predation and attack capabilities
Killer whales are as picky as great white sharks, and due to their large size, they usually eat large amounts of food hungry to keep their huge bodies for energy, and an adult killer whale can eat 100-300 pounds a day.
The advantages of killer whale hunting can be said to be very obvious, first of all, from the speed point of view, it can reach a speed of 35 miles per hour, there is almost no prey that it can't catch up, and its size also gives strong strength to fight with opponents, and the most important thing is that it is also extremely smart, it can choose different ways to hunt according to the actual situation, and even make a voice to ask for help from peers.
Usually, killer whales choose to hunt cooperatively, also known as pods, in which killer whales gather together to form a pod-shaped predation array that traps their prey, and the size of the pod varies from six or seven members to dozens of individuals.
When they hunt in this way, once they are sure that their prey is surrounded, they will decisively narrow the range, rush up from all sides, and push the prey to the surface, and then the killer whales will slam the prey with their strong and powerful tails, stun them or kill them outright, and then swallow them in one gulp.
In addition to pods, they also play a small trick by setting a trap with a false shot, such as when hunting seabirds, killer whales will deliberately lurk under the surface of the water and spit out some fish to attract seabirds to feed, and then when they are tempted by the fish, they will take them down in one fell swoop.
Fifth, the two are at war, and whoever loses wins
In the movie "Jaws", we saw the ferocity, brutality, and even left a shadow of this creature, for such a sea monster, who would dare to provoke them, in fact, no matter how strong the creature is, there are natural enemies, and killer whales are the nemesis that comes to cure the great white shark.
Prior to this, marine biologists from South Africa filmed for the first time a video of a great white shark attacking and killing a humpback whale, in which we can see that a great white shark with a length of about 4 meters successfully hunted a South African humpback whale that was twice the size and 10 meters long, and the whole hunting process took about 50 minutes.
When the great white shark launched its first attack, it targeted the humpback whale's tail, and it bit hard with its own teeth, causing a huge wound on the humpback whale's tail, and the artery was bitten open and bleeding profusely.
After the first wave of attacks, the great white shark did not continue to attack, but took a short rest, it moved slightly away from the humpback whale, and observed near it, also recovering its strength.
After swimming like this for half an hour, it began its second attack, this time it chose the head of the humpback whale, because the great white shark does not have any advantage in size, so it was a little difficult when it bit the head of the humpback whale to drag, but it still managed to press the humpback whale under the water to prevent it from coming out of the water to breathe, and finally from the humpback whale's skin color darkened, the skin peeled off, and the motionless state was presumed to be dead.
Although there is a fact that the great white shark has successfully attacked the humpback whale, but in the face of the killer whale, the great white shark is still inferior, because the killer whale is larger, and it can resist the attack of the great white shark just by relying on its huge body, just like the tail of the killer whale just mentioned is also an extremely powerful weapon that can be used to hit the enemy, so in the face of the attack of the great white shark, the killer whale may only need to use its own tail to kill the great white shark.
Great white sharks choose to actively avoid killer whales when they encounter them, which has also been confirmed by researchers, there is a seal island in the waters of False Bay in South Africa, and there are 60,000 or 70,000 seals near the island, so it has also become a hunting ground for great white sharks to come to feed.
But in 2017 and 2018, the bodies of several great white sharks were found on the beach of the bay, without liver and heart, and with severe trauma to the pectoral fins, which researchers determined were traces of killer whale attacks.
In fact, it is rare for killer whales and great white sharks to go head-to-head, because smart killer whales will not come forward to fight so recklessly, after all, kill 10,000 enemies, lose 1,000 themselves, and even if they can win, they may be bitten by great white sharks, so they often use their cleverness to choose more roundabout tactics.
For example, using their tail and huge body to overturn the great white shark and let them enter a state of rigidity and stationary, at this time the great white shark can only disarm and surrender, waiting to die, and people have also found that the reason why killer whales hunt and eat great white sharks is not to eat its meat, but its liver part, the rest of the body is almost immobile, directly discarded, and it is impossible to imagine that killer whales also love to eat cod liver oil.
Through the above analysis, we also know that although the great white shark can dominate one side, but in the face of the tough killer whale, it can only take thirty-six strategies, and the killer whale in the face of the great white shark, although it has enough strength to subdue it, but many times it will still choose more than one thing, after all, the ocean is so big, it's not bad, right.