Great White Sharks are one of the biggest predatory species on Earth and have been featured in the JAWS films. They’re bigger than the dinosaur megalodons, in fact. The sperm whale may reach a length of eight stories! The biggest marine toothed animals communicate with one another through clicks.
1. Fin Whale
The Fin Whale (Balaenoptera physalus) is the second largest whale in the world and can grow up to 90 feet long. It is part of the rorqual family and is a baleen whale which strains food from seawater using plates called “baleen”. Nicknamed “Razorback” for a distinct ridge behind their dorsal fin, Fin Whales also have a striking feature on their heads: the lower right jaw and lip are white while the left is black.
Like other whales, Fin Whales communicate with each other through long-distance calls that can be heard up to 100 miles away. Their unique clicking sound is one of the lowest frequency sounds that has ever been recorded. This is the major difference between sea vs ocean creatures. This helps them locate other whales in the vast open waters of the sea. This is how they find each other to reproduce and to seek shelter from storms.
2. Giant Crab
Crabs are crustaceans and belong to the decapod order (with lobsters, shrimps and prawns). They have ten legs and two claws, are covered with a hard chitinous shell and live in a variety of habitats. Giant crabs are a marine species that can reach over 16 inches in carapace width. They are considered the largest crab in the world. Males can be more than twice as heavy as females.
They can be found along the coast of Western Australia to Tasmania. Their body is orange and darkly spotted, and they often cement anemones or pieces of sponge onto their carapace to camouflage themselves. This helps them avoid large fish and octopus, their natural predators. They also serve an important ecological function by clearing beaches of large dead fish and other carrion that would otherwise rot on the shore.
3. Giant Ray
Giant manta rays have the widest central disc of all fish and can reach an average width of 29.5 feet (9 m). They are not sharks and do not have solid skeletons but rather bones made of flexible cartilage. They are easily recognised by a large, broad head that is flanked by two structures that protrude forward either side of the mouth called cephalic lobes. These resemble horns and give rise to their alternative common name of devil rays.
They feed on krill, passing oxygenated water over their gills as they move forward. With a slow growth rate and delayed sexual maturity, giant mantas have few natural predators and their biggest threat comes from being caught in nets. They are also vulnerable to entanglement with boats and are sometimes towed by divers. The life span is unknown but is believed to be around 20 years.
4. Ocean Sunfish
The ocean sunfish, or Mola mola (Mola means “millstone” in Latin), is the largest bony fish known to exist. This massive tropical fish is related to pufferfish but lacks a tail and caudal fins. Instead, it uses a structure called a clavus, formed by extensions of the dorsal and anal fin rays, to act as a rudder.
Newly hatched sunfish are tiny and resemble pufferfish with well-developed spines and tails, but they re-absorb these features in their second larval stage. Once they reach adulthood, they are surprisingly slow-moving and feed on jellyfish. They are also prolific egg-layers, producing hundreds of millions of eggs at a time—more than any other vertebrate species. These eggs are high in nutrient content and serve as the main source of nutrition for this large fish. It is estimated that an ocean sunfish can consume up to 2,000 pounds of jellyfish per day.
5. Great White Shark
Sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) are the apex predators of the sea and help keep ocean ecosystems balanced. They are incredibly fast hunters with six highly refined senses — olfaction, hearing, touch, taste, and electromagnetism. They have a body that is shaped like a blunt torpedo and an elongated, pointed snout. Their skin is slate-gray to black and their underside is a whitish color.
Great whites are powerful swimmers and have a row of sharp, serrated teeth that can reach lengths of up to 6 meters (20 feet). They have one of the strongest bites of any living creature. Sharks are among the most ancient creatures on Earth. They are in the class Chondrichthyes, which includes fishes with boneless skeletons. They are found throughout the world’s waters but prefer cooler, temperate waters. They can sense vibrations through the water with their lateral line, which is composed of cells that detect pressure waves and movement.