In 2017 an Australian tour operator out at sea photographed something pretty spectacular
and very rarely seen.
That was a saltwater crocodile and four tiger sharks in the same vicinity.
The reason they were around each other is all of them were feasting on the carcass of
a whale.
Unfortunately for us, they didn’t get into a fight.
Newsweek wrote, “There was no aggression between the animals and they appeared to be
respecting each other's space, even eating from different parts of the whale.”
But we did find one case in which the two animals did go toe-to-toe, also in Australia,
and in the U.S. alligators have gone up against sharks.
You might be surprised what happened, but we won’t tell you about the result just
yet.
Let’s first do some fight analysis.
So, the in red corner we have the shark.
The problem is, there are something like 440 species of shark so we have to know what kind
of shark we are going to pit against our croc.
In the interest of making this show exciting we aren’t going to talk about softy sharks
such as the nurse shark or leopard shark.
They are not really the most violent species and wouldn’t even hurt a hair on your head.
If we are going to put a shark up against one of those beasts called crocodiles, we
think it has to be the great white.
It’s a formidable killer and that’s why it was the star of the utterly terrifying
movie, Jaws.
The great white can claim to be the shark that kills most humans, and while the tiger
shark is certainly handy in a fight, it’s the great white that we all know and fear.
Another good thing about this face off is that a great white could possibly get into
a scrap with a crocodile because in Australia the two could meet in the ocean.
There are some folks that probably didn’t even know that crocs swim around the ocean,
but if you’re Australian you’ll have seen news reports of these beasts taking human
lives.
If you think it’s safe to go out in the water and snorkel, be sure to check if the
danger signs are up.
Saltwater crocodiles seem to take the most human lives among all crocodile species, so
it’s a good croc to pit against our great white.
We should also tell you that saltwater crocodiles can get very big, with the biggest croc ever
recorded being the saltwater variety and going by the name of Lolong.
It was killed in the Philippines in 2011 after killing a farmer and a little girl and perhaps
a few others.
These things are no joke, so we can say with certainty if we put a great white against
a saltwater croc we have the fight of the century.
Ok, time to do the weigh-in.
We’ll work with averages here, not the biggest ever found.
A fully grown great white shark can weigh anything from 680 – 1,100 kg.
In pounds that’s 1500 – 2425.
Yep, that’s big and it’s one reason humans are so easily torn to shreds by these things.
Females can get even bigger, and they can measure on average 4.6 to 4.9 meters (15 to
16 feet).
Let’s now look at our saltwater crocodile at the weigh-in.
In their case the males are much bigger than the females, so let’s say our fight will
be between a female great white and a male crocodile.
That male on average will weigh something like 1,000 –1,075 kg.
That’s 2,205 – 2,370 pounds.
They usually grow to about 6 meters, or 20 feet.
So, in terms of weight the two are very similar, and let’s just say for this show the fighters
are both fairly equal in weight.
The croc is a bit longer but there’s nothing we can do about that.
It’s not that different, so just imagine this fight being like that recent heavyweight
contest between Andy Ruiz and Anthony Joshua.
In that case the short guy won, but it might not be the case for this fight.
What’s good about this battle is both of the animals can hold their own, and it’s
said where they go they rules the waves.
They really wouldn’t want to get into a fight, because animals don’t often bite
off more than they can chew.
Well, today they have no choice.
They are fighting and that’s it.
Both animals are fast, and the crocodile might move at 29 km/h when at top speed.
That’s 18 miles per hour.
The great white has the upper hand here as it can reach speeds of 56 kph, or 34 miles
per hour.
Rushing in at that speed might be a problem for the croc, but the croc has one massive
ace up its sleeve.
This ace is the fact the saltwater crocodile has the highest bite force of any animal in
the world.
Yes, you heard that right, it bites harder than any living thing.
If it gets hold of a shark it’s going to hurt to say the least.
That bite force can be 3,700 pounds per square inch.
That might not mean much to you, but a great white shark has a bite force of way less.
This is how one scientist described the bite of this animal, “The strongest bite clearly
belongs to the saltwater crocodile.
It would be easier to lift a car off of your leg than to open up the jaws of a saltwater
crocodile that has clamped down.”
So far, the croc has the slight weight advantage and size advantage and it can bite harder,
but the slippery shark has speed, and we all know speed is important.
We should also add now that the crocodile does hunt some quite large marine life, including
sharks, but only small ones usually.
We have seen a photograph of a saltwater crocodile with a bull shark in its mouth, but that’s
no great white.
Sharks, too, though, eat other sharks as well as lots of large marine life including small
whales, dolphins, etc, so they are certainly no pushover.
In terms of weapons, we know the croc has that incredible bite force and we know the
shark’s bite force is strong, too, but on the shark’s side is its maneuverability.
If it gets something in those serrated teeth it has it will then violently move its head
from side to side.
It’s a ripper rather than a chomper.
With its ability to move in and out fast and take chunks out of the croc, perhaps the crocodile
would be ripped apart slowly.
It’s not an easy match to pick a winner, with some experts saying the saltwater crocodile
is almost invincible in its natural territory, and that includes being the toughest animal
among sharks and other apex predators.
It might not have the speed or agility to outfox the shark, but if it gets that shark
in its mouth – which it will in a fight to death – it will cause so much damage.
The shark on the other hand won’t so easily cause the same kind of injury because the
croc has better armor.
The shark might get a chunk, but the bone-crushing croc will no doubt deliver a much more harmful
blow when it bites.
If it gets a fin the shark will be in serious trouble, but if that shark takes a chunk of
the croc it will likely not do enough damage to make the croc retreat.
If the shark does get a big bite it could just swim away and hope that the croc bleeds
out.
We looked at what so-called experts think of this battle, and it seems a lot of people
seem to think that the shark would not recover from a crocodile bite
Back to the beginning of this show and the news report about a great white and a crocodile
fighting over fish.
This happened in Mexico and the croc attacked and the shark swam off with its fin between
its many teeth.
It didn’t want to fight.
The croc got the fish.
We think this would happen time and again because the croc is just too imposing and
the shark is too astute to take a risk in fighting the croc.
The croc will be stubborn, though, and won’t budge an inch.
If it does come down to the fight it will be whoever gets the first bite in.
If the croc gets its mouth on the croc the shark will suffer too grievous an injury to
survive.
If the shark can rush in and get a chunk and then wait for the croc to bleed out it will
win.
With all this in mind, this fight would very likely end with both great animals dying.
It’s an unhappy draw.
Or do you disagree?
Tell us what you think about this fight in the comments.
Also, be sure to check out our other video What If You Woke Up With Shark's Teeth?
Thanks for watching, and as always, don’t forget to like, share and subscribe.
See you next time.