Top 5 Predators in the Catalina Kelp Forest
Before we departed on our journey to the Catalina kelp forest, my partner and I decided to go on a dangerous adventure to discover the top ten predators of that ecosystem. We invented a system which would tell us how much an animal would affect the Catalina kelp forest on a carnivorous diet. My partner and I would first estimate the population of a certain carnivorous species based upon how many we saw during our snorkels. We also thought that we should put the approximate amount of food consumed each day and even ferocity into consideration. The more it was possible for the species to affect the food chain in the kelp forest, the higher it was on our list. In the end, we came up with the top five predators that were seen during our trip.
Fish number four actually does not eat excessively, but it does tend to
eat prey much larger than themselves. Moray eels eat large crustaceans,
octopi, and fish large enough to satisfy a grown man, so we decided to
put the hideous snake-like fish on our list. Even though they tend to
be very elusive during the day and night, we were lucky enough to see
one hiding in a rock crevice during our night snorkel. However, we saw
even bigger eaters.
Fish number four probably has the strangest life in the kelp forest. All
sheepheads are born female and the most dominant of them become male.
We did not see any fully grown males but we saw many in transition. Because
this is one of the bigger fish that we saw it made sense that its diet
would have more variety. Sea urchins, crabs, barnacles, clams, muscles,
snails, octopi, and worms are all on the sheephead’s menu. We were
amazed to know that the ecosystem could support the abundance of sheepheads
even thought they eat so much.
The third top predator of the Catalina kelp forest is the amazing horn
shark. Horn sharks were only seen during our night snorkel and we fortunate
enough that one had swum strait to our camera, so we were later able to
get an even closer look. Prey for this shark include fish, squids, crabs,
and sea urchins. The horn shark gets its name from having one bony spike
on each dorsal fin used for defensive purposes only. If a larger fish
attempts to eat the horn shark it immediately spits it out after being
punctured by to spikes. This is only the second because they are nowhere
near as abundant as the Catalina kelp forests’ two top predators.
When it is below us, fish number three resembles swimming grass, and when
it is above us it appears to be another white shining ray of light cutting
through the water. However, the kelp bass is not difficult to find because
of their abundance and size. This fish has been chosen to be number five
because it was one of the few things that we were able to see feeding
on smaller fish. We saw them gulping up top smelt in their large mouths,
but they also prey on other fish, squid, octopi, and crustaceans. Some
people have also said that they have been known to jump out of the water
so they can pounce from above when chasing small fish inches below the
surface. It was an amazing sight to see the kelp bass prey on the top
smelt, but if there was only one thing to see it was the kelp forest’s
top predator.
Finally, the most striking of all these animals is the fearsome leopard
shark. On our first snorkel our entire group was awed at the sight of
at least fifty approximately five to seven foot leopard sharks. Clams,
fish, crabs, and shrimp are all prey that are quite abundant in the kelp
forest, but my partner and I believe that they congregated in those masses
to mate. Even in the cloudy two feet of water we still see sharks dart
away from our presence. I had never seen a shark in the wild before, but
there I was witnessing a gathering of at least fifty. I did feel fear
but not as much as I felt awe. Anyone who had seen all of those sharks
will definitely never forget their feelings on that day.
The top five predators of the Catalina kelp forest are now in order of
bottom to top, my partner and I feel great about our discoveries, and
we feel that we truly have helped the scientific community with our research.
The sea creatures listed above are all amazing animals. I suggest that
anyone who reads this should pursue this study and find out more on their
own.
Work Cited
Sharks and Rays by Leighton Taylor
marinelife.noaa.gov
