Do Great White Sharks Deserve to be Called Apex Predators? (wild, Hawaii)

[Bluefox]

Not one but four half eaten white shark carcasses have washed ashore this summer in S. Africa. All preyed upon by orcas. A similar event occurred off the Farallon Islands several years ago which involved orcas preying on a white shark. There were about 200 sharks in the vicinity for seal season, and as soon as they smelled the blood they cleared the area, abandoning one of the most seal abundant areas for the entire season. One tagged shark was reported to have sank to a depth of of 1500 feet and high tailed it to Hawaii.

Orcas are simply superior predators with genius intellect. Their range basically overlaps the white shark all over the world. True, not all pods prey on white sharks but transients could at any time. And in a head to head battle we know who will win.

I think it's time to retire the great white as an apex predator. An apex has no natural predator. Clearly they are subject to predation by the orca, the true king of the ocean.

https://www.google.com/amp/gizmodo.c...1795739182/amp

[NVplumber]

Mmm. Interesting. I'm no marine biologist, all my face to face with formidable predators has been on land where I belong. However I have seen Orcas in the wild and they are certainly impressive. As you say, they have the brains to go with the brawn. An abundance of both. Great Whites are like all sharks. Eating machines. Pure instinct. And Orcas brain is wbat...twice the size of a human? Yepper. That's a formidable critter.

[Bluefox]

Originally Posted by NVplumber

Mmm. Interesting. I'm no marine biologist, all my face to face with formidable predators has been on land where I belong. However I have seen Orcas in the wild and they are certainly impressive. As you say, they have the brains to go with the brawn. An abundance of both. Great Whites are like all sharks. Eating machines. Pure instinct. And Orcas brain is wbat...twice the size of a human? Yepper. That's a formidable critter.

Yeah, orcas are one of the most fascinating megafauna in the world. They are truly remarkable creatures. As are white sharks, which are ancient creatures that have been swimming in the ocean many millions of years before whales. But the orcas IMO have usurped the throne. If Megalodon still existed perhaps it'd be a different story, but probably not considering orcas are pack animals and again, extremely intelligent.

[Parnassia]

I'm sure neither predator cares very much who gets to sit on that throne. They're busy.