Apex Predators

What is a predator? What is an apex predator? A predator is “An animal that naturally preys on others” (Oxford University Press). An apex predator is “A predator at the top of the food chain that is not preyed upon by any other animal” (Merriam-Webster). There are many predators as well as the prey in the world. For example, the lion is the predatory king of the jungle. The eagle is the predatory king of the sky. Especially in the ocean, the killer whale or orca is the predatory king. These are 3 reasons why the killer whale is the ocean’s top predator. Their physical characteristics are appropriate to hunt their diets. Junior Explorers said that the killer whales are the largest of the dolphins and one of the most powerful predators of the

They have a cooperative communication system. BioExpedition wrote that each pod has a very complex communication system. Moreover, each pod produces a completely different set of sounds. So each individual can recognize the group where it belongs. Among the members of the same community, such a cooperative communication is transmitted and passed on from generation to generation. He explained more that each pod of killer whales also uses their echolocations, “A process used to locate distant or invisible objects” (Sarah G, 2013), to navigate together and to hunt their prey cooperatively in a slightly visible

The first of their cleverly hunting tactics is the “wave making” technique. Nature(PBS) explained about this technique that the pod of the killer whales will attack the ice floe in tight formation by creating a huge wave toward the ice floe by how they dive underneath the surface of the sea and push to the wave with their fluke. The making wave finally crashes over the ice floe and sweeps the seal off. Killer whales can not only attack their prey in the ocean but also beach themselves to ambush the sea lions on the shore by storming the beach or the “beach storming” technique. This strategy is always passed on from generation to generation. The third of them is the carousel-feeding technique. The carousel-feeding technique is how their pod releases cooperatively a burst of air bubbles and belly flashes to herd the herring into a tight ball close the surface of the water. The purposes of slapping the ball with their tails are to stun the fish and to gulp down by the mouthful in the easier way. (Nature(PBS),