http://library.thinkquest.org/08aug/01316/Great%20White%20Shark.html
Picture: This is a picture of a white shark. These sharks help to keep balance in the oceans ecosystem by their individuality and variation of their diets.
Summary: White sharks, the largest predatory sharks in the ocean, are thought of as apex predators that feed primarily on seals and sea lions. But a new study by researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, shows surprising variability in the dietary preferences of individual sharks. University of Wyoming student Sora Kim said, "We did find that white shark diets changed with age, as expected, but we were surprised that the patterns and extent of change differed among individuals." Paul Koch, professor of Earth and planetary science at UCSC said that not all sharks eat the same mix of prey. He also said, "We confirmed that the diets of many individuals observed at seal and sea lion rookeries shift from fish to marine mammals as the sharks mature. We discovered that different individual sharks may specialize on different types of prey. These two types of flexibility in feeding behavior are difficult to document using traditional methods, but may be very important for understanding how the population is supported by the eastern Pacific ecosystem and how it may respond to changes in that ecosystem." It is important to the ecosystem that these sharks don't go extinct because of human actions. These sharks keep a balance in the oceans ecosystem and they are self relient.
I invited the Marine Biologist and white shark expert Ryan Johnson to check out and comment on our blog. He is a professional marine biologist and would have many great things to say. Here is a link to his website: http://www.ryan-johnson.org/
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I invited the Marine Biologist and white shark expert Ryan Johnson to check out and comment on our blog. He is a professional marine biologist and would have many great things to say. Here is a link to his website: http://www.ryan-johnson.org/. In 1998 he was forced to study the white shark after being stranded on an island. He studies and documents the lives of the great white sharks. His dream has always been to study the great white shark.
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Opinion: I didn't know that white sharks ate different kinds of prey. I also didnt know that they keep a balance in the ecosystem. I would think that would make different kind of animals extinct.
ReplyDeleteQuestion: If White Sharks starting eating the same prey all the time, will it make a big difference in the ecosystems balance?
Yes, it will make a big difference in the balance of the ecosystem because the population of the same prey being eaten would decrease, but yet the population of all the other prey would increase. The population of the sharks would most likely drop also if they only ate one type of prey.
Delete"http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-great-white-sharks-diet-20120928,0,7188166.story" I have chosen to expand this link because it discusses the newer diversity's among the great white sharks diets. That easily relates to our blog article since ours discusses the new dietary preferences by great whites.
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