Orca CA2 - The Great White Shark Eater

What is "CA2"? Which human trainers? What are you talking about? A link or reference would be nice. Thanks.
 
I'm pretty sure the Orcas figured this out in the millions of years that they have fought and killed sharks. They are very intelligent animals anyway so wouldn't have taken long to find out the best way of killing sharks.

I don't think there was any teaching done by humans :rolleyes:
 
The "orca vs. great white" debate pops up with some regularity on SciForums. I side with the opinion that in any ecological niche, a mammal or bird will pound the holy crap out of a fish, amphibian or reptile of comparable size. Warm-blooded air-breathers simply have a higher-energy metabolism than cold-blooded gill-breathers.

Or, they might use the vastly superior brainpower that comes with warm blood and lungs to win the battle. ;)
 
Komodo dragon beats the shit out of mammalian pigs.

snakes idem dito. They can kill humans.

Moreover, mammals and birds are reptilian lineages. We just call them something else, ignoring the fact that they are reptiles for the sake of moral superiority or racial insecurity. So it is really a question of reptile vs reptile in the above cases.

great whites do feed extensively on warm blooded mammals. Just not orcas. In this case the comparison wasn't fair to start with because orcas tend to be bigger than great whites.
 
Mr MacGillivray said:
Komodo dragon beats the shit out of mammalian pigs.
Click to expand...
Those animals do not occupy the same niche in the ecosystem. I'm talking about two animals that are roughly equivalent except for endothermy vs. exothermy and gills vs. lungs. The komodo is a predator whereas the pig is an omnivore; although the wild boar can be pretty tough many porcine species are scavengers. No comparison.
snakes idem dito. They can kill humans.
Click to expand...
Yes they can, but it doesn't happen very often. I daresay many more snakes are killed by humans.
Moreover, mammals and birds are reptilian lineages. We just call them something else, ignoring the fact that they are reptiles for the sake of moral superiority or racial insecurity. So it is really a question of reptile vs reptile in the above cases.
Click to expand...
Either you completely missed my point or you're being disingenuous. It isn't the taxonomy I'm talking about. It's the fact that the metabolism of warm-blooded animals generates far more energy than cold-blooded animals. Within any given size and type (predator vs. predator, grazer vs. grazer, etc.), they're stronger, faster and smarter. Moreover, warm-blooded animals that take their oxygen directly from the air with lungs (mammals and birds) are at an even greater metabolic advantage over the cold-blooded animals that have to filter it out of the water through gills (the true fishes and the cartilaginous fishes, as well as the aquatic arthropods and other lower orders).
great whites do feed extensively on warm blooded mammals. Just not orcas. In this case the comparison wasn't fair to start with because orcas tend to be bigger than great whites.
Click to expand...
Well I did postulate that to be fair the two animals had to be of comparable size, in addition to playing the same role. Hunter, seed-eater, detritivore, etc., although the contest would only occur in the case of two predators.
 
orcas are smart. they invent, learn and communicate between themselves. sharks swim and bite pretty much.
 
There's a video on youtube somewhere, with an Orca SHOWING OFF IT'S GREAT WHITE KILL to the spectating humans in a boat nearby.

Jaw dropper.
 
Fraggle Rocker said:
Those animals do not occupy the same niche in the ecosystem. I'm talking about two animals that are roughly equivalent except for endothermy vs. exothermy and gills vs. lungs. The komodo is a predator whereas the pig is an omnivore; although the wild boar can be pretty tough many porcine species are scavengers. No comparison.Yes they can, but it doesn't happen very often. I daresay many more snakes are killed by humans.Either you completely missed my point or you're being disingenuous. It isn't the taxonomy I'm talking about. It's the fact that the metabolism of warm-blooded animals generates far more energy than cold-blooded animals. Within any given size and type (predator vs. predator, grazer vs. grazer, etc.), they're stronger, faster and smarter. Moreover, warm-blooded animals that take their oxygen directly from the air with lungs (mammals and birds) are at an even greater metabolic advantage over the cold-blooded animals that have to filter it out of the water through gills (the true fishes and the cartilaginous fishes, as well as the aquatic arthropods and other lower orders).Well I did postulate that to be fair the two animals had to be of comparable size, in addition to playing the same role. Hunter, seed-eater, detritivore, etc., although the contest would only occur in the case of two predators.
Click to expand...

Actually white sharks are in between warm-blooded than cold blooded. So they wouldn't qualify for the match up. It's just words, but what else is there?

Indeed we are not talking about taxonomy. But that doesn't make it a contest between reptiles and mammals. It is still a contest between cold blooded reptiles and warm blooded reptiles.

It doesn't matter whether snakes are killed by humans. You postulated that a "mammal or bird will pound the holy crap out of a fish, amphibian or reptile of comparable size." That is what I am responding to. Not to what you are thinking. In science it is allegedly important to be precise in your wording.

A king cobra will pound the holy crap out of any mammal, including humans unless they are armed, or trained, or both.

The mighty invertebrate called tapeworm lodges in the belly of the mammalian beasts and feasts. Who is the king here?

Humans are killed by sharks.

Humans are injured, driven away from their "own" beaches, killed by jellyfish. A simple invertebrate.

A nile crocodile eats lions for dinner. Yes, it is bigger. Could an Anaconda tackle a jaguar? Can a rat eat a baby during its sleep? I see nothing but a grey area.

In short, when dealing with nature you should always be aware that there are a million exceptions to the rule.

Mammals and birds are in NO way superior to any other beast. If that was the case the world would be filled with mammals and birds. It is a simple application of the theory of evolution.

If birds and mammals would be the ultimate predators, there wouldn't be any other ones. Clearly they are not. Clearly there are some very serious design flaws in the bird and mammalian design that allows for some very 'inferior' lineages to compete with them, and to outcompete them.

Pick your cherries selectively and you will win. Engulf yourself in nature and you will quickly realize the entire discussion is unscientific, rife with prejudice, and opinionated. And luckily that also means it isn't without entertainment value.
 
Mr MacGillivray said:
Actually white sharks are in between warm-blooded than cold blooded. So they wouldn't qualify for the match up. It's just words, but what else is there?

Indeed we are not talking about taxonomy. But that doesn't make it a contest between reptiles and mammals. It is still a contest between cold blooded reptiles and warm blooded reptiles.

It doesn't matter whether snakes are killed by humans. You postulated that a "mammal or bird will pound the holy crap out of a fish, amphibian or reptile of comparable size." That is what I am responding to. Not to what you are thinking. In science it is allegedly important to be precise in your wording.

A king cobra will pound the holy crap out of any mammal, including humans unless they are armed, or trained, or both.

The mighty invertebrate called tapeworm lodges in the belly of the mammalian beasts and feasts. Who is the king here?

Humans are killed by sharks.

Humans are injured, driven away from their "own" beaches, killed by jellyfish. A simple invertebrate.

A nile crocodile eats lions for dinner. Yes, it is bigger. Could an Anaconda tackle a jaguar? Can a rat eat a baby during its sleep? I see nothing but a grey area.

In short, when dealing with nature you should always be aware that there are a million exceptions to the rule.

Mammals and birds are in NO way superior to any other beast. If that was the case the world would be filled with mammals and birds. It is a simple application of the theory of evolution.

If birds and mammals would be the ultimate predators, there wouldn't be any other ones. Clearly they are not. Clearly there are some very serious design flaws in the bird and mammalian design that allows for some very 'inferior' lineages to compete with them, and to outcompete them.

Pick your cherries selectively and you will win. Engulf yourself in nature and you will quickly realize the entire discussion is unscientific, rife with prejudice, and opinionated. And luckily that also means it isn't without entertainment value.
Click to expand...


Nobody beats fully grown, adult African bull elephants, nobody. They are true kings on land. Adult Nile crocodile loses against adult hippopotamus. Adult African elephants beat both Nile crocodile and adult hippopotamus and rhino as well, each one-on-one.
 
Gravage said:
Nobody beats fully grown, adult African bull elephants, nobody. They are true kings on land. Adult Nile crocodile loses against adult hippopotamus. Adult African elephants beat both Nile crocodile and adult hippopotamus and rhino as well, each one-on-one.
Click to expand...

And everybody lost in the final competition
with bacteria, germs or virus. ;)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
BWE1 said:
orcas are smart. they invent, learn and communicate between themselves.
Click to expand...
Many of the cetacean species (perhaps most or even all of them) are extremely intelligent. They may be on a par with parrots and apes. Since they don't have hands and live in an environment that is hostile to us, it's difficult to establish rapport with them, so we haven't been able to study them as much as we'd like to.

Dolphin communication has been found to be quite intricate. Each individual has a name, and each pod has a rather lengthy call that may be something like a battle cry, national anthem, or cadence count.

I don't know but I've been told
Hut two three four
Penguin meat is mighty cold
Hut two three four
Sound off one two
Sound off three four
Willy's free!
One two three four
One two... three-four! :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top