Category Nature Science & Wildlife

The great white shark is always viewed with fear. It is the largest predatory fish in the world. It is known to be an aggressive predator.

It preys on huge marine mammals including large seals, dolphins and even large baleen whales. It sometimes feeds on dead whales too. It is interesting to note that a great white shark does not chew its food though it has 300 teeth.

Great white sharks have white underbellies and slate-grey upper bodies that blend in with the rocky coastal sea floor. With their muscular bodies they can chase down some of the fastest swimmers in the ocean. They even have organs that can sense the tiny electromagnetic fields generated by animals. While feeding, they rip their prey into mouth-sized pieces which are swallowed later.

It is not easy to keep great white sharks in captivity; they need to travel long distances for seasonal migration and have an extremely demanding diet which make it difficult for them to survive in captivity. Great white sharks are not preyed on, except by killer whales on rare occasions.

It is not difficult to spot an orca. It has a very distinctive black body with a few white patches. Also known as the killer whale, the orca belongs to the family of oceanic whales. It is one of the prominent predators of the ocean.

A family of orcas might include up to 40 individuals and they hunt together. They use cooperative hunting techniques that are similar to the behaviour of wolf packs to an extent. They use a variety of sounds for communication; each group has its own distinctive noises that its members will recognize even at a distance.

Orcas have a diverse diet; they feast on fish, penguins, and marine mammals such as seals, sea lions, and even whales. They also eat seabirds and squids. Their teeth are four inches long and help them with catching prey.

Orcas can be found in each of the world’s oceans in a variety of marine environments, from Arctic and Antarctic regions to tropical seas, absent only from the Baltic and Black seas.

Picture Credit : Google

Also known as gator or common alligator, the American alligator is a large crocodilian reptile endemic to the South-eastern United States. It is built for an aquatic life and can get really clumsy on land. It has webbed feet that aids in swimming. In addition to that, it has a strong tail that propels the gator in water.

The American alligator feeds mainly on fish, turtles, snakes, and small mammals. It is an apex species and plays an important role in maintaining the biodiversity of its habitat. Apart from hunting in water, it can also hunt on land at night.

While hunting a terrestrial prey, American alligators ambush them from the edge of the water. They grab the prey and pull it into the water, like many other crocodile species. They are also known to lure birds, mostly by balancing sticks and branches on their heads. Poor birds looking for nesting material fall in this trap. American alligators are one of the few animals that use tools to lure their prey.

Picture Credit : Google

A gharial can be distinguished by its long, thin snout. It is an Asian crocodilian that lives in clear freshwater river systems, congregating at river bends where the water is deeper. A gharial gets its name from ‘ghara’, a Hindi/Urdu word for pot.

Gharials are not suited for living on land. They spend most of the time in water and generally leave the water only to bask in the sun or to nest. They bask in the sun to regulate their body temperature. Gharials are experts in hunting fish underwater. They have sharp interlocking teeth and long narrow snouts, which meet little resistance in the water. Their snouts contain sensory cells that can detect vibrations in the water, which help them locate their prey. They mainly feed on crustaceans, small fish and frogs.

Gharials do not chew their prey, they swallow it, but they tear apart large fish before swallowing. Young gharials jerk their heads back to manoeuvre fish into their gullets, sliding them in head first.

The Nile crocodile is one of the top predators in the African waters. It is an apex predator with no natural enemy in its range. It is the second-largest crocodilian species in the world. It grows up to a size of five meters and weighs up to 750 kilograms. It can take down anything ranging from a hippo to a human. It also has the reputation of being a man-eater!

Though they are capable of living in saltwater, Nile crocodiles rarely do so. They prefer rivers, freshwater marshes, and mangrove swamps. Though they mainly feed on fish, they catch anything that crosses their path including zebras, small hippos, porcupines, birds, and other crocodiles. They can eat up to half their body weight in a single sitting. Imagine how much a Nile crocodile that weighs 750 kilograms eats in one go!

Like the saltwater crocodile, the Nile crocodile too is an ambush predator. It waits for hours, days, and even weeks for the suitable moment to attack. Even a swift prey is not immune to its attack.

The saltwater crocodile is the Earth’s largest crocodilian species in existence today. It sometimes eats humans as well. Sounds pretty scary, right? Saltwater crocodiles have an enormous range; they populate the brackish and fresh-water regions of eastern India, Southeast Asia, and northern Australia. They are good swimmers and are often noted to swim up to the seas.

Saltwater crocodiles are opportunistic predators; they lurk patiently beneath the surface near the water’s edge, waiting for potential prey to stop for a sip of water. They ambush their prey and then drown or swallow it as a whole. Adult salties feed on crabs, turtles, snakes, birds, buffaloes, wild boars, and monkeys while baby salties usually go for small insects, amphibians, reptiles, crustaceans, and small fish.

A saltwater crocodile is capable of fighting and prevailing over almost any animal that enters its territory, including apex predators like sharks. They have the strongest bite of any living animal!