Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks, so let us briefly talk about the ‘Jaws vs. Leviathan’ that was aired during the summer 2024. It is a sequel to the ‘Jaws vs. Meg’ that also aired earlier, and was discussed by us as well. Therefore, what about this show?
On one hand, it is an improvement over the first
show, if simply by virtue of having a better CGI, one that is not almost
all-monotonous dark blue. There are different shades and colors, and one can
easily notice what is going on here. Moreover, the plot/script of the final
face-off is a bit better, and is less reminiscent of the
dragon-not-quite-a-fight in the HoD S1 finale. Therefore, why is the rant?
Because the premise of the show just feels somewhat
wrong. Sharks are cartilaginous fish, while whales are cetacean mammals,
alongside the smaller dolphins, porpoises, and co. The physical similarities
between the two groups (and the extinct ichthyosaurus reptiles of the Mesozoic)
are only superficial and physical, and are not even complete, given how the
cetaceans (and the extinct ichthyosaurs) breathe air, while the sharks (and
their relatives) do not.
Yet, the differences between sharks and cetaceans is
more than just physical, it is mental: like most of the mammals, the cetaceans
take care of their young, (as it was shown in the show), while the sharks – not
so much. The cooperative hunting/feeding by the great white sharks is something
else again: it is a pecking order, and a cooperative pecking order, but it is
not pack hunting of the orcas.
Orcas… they’re the top pack hunters in the modern
oceans; great white sharks attack and eat whale calves, to be sure, but orcas
attack and successfully eat adult whales instead, including such big species as
the modern grey whale, and even, according to some rumors, sperm whales.
Now, male sperm whales are the biggest modern
toothed whales (cetaceans), period, and not even orcas like to mess with them,
but sperm whale females and calves are smaller and thus have bigger chances to
end up on the orcas’ menu. That said, what matters here is that the orcas do
what the great whites can do, only better, and their existence is one of the
reasons as to why the Megalodon shark did die out by the Pleistocene epoch.
(Recent past, but still the past). In addition, the modern sperm whale?
First, the modern sperm whale is a carnivore
specialist, as it feeds primarily on large species of squid and octopus, while
the modern orca will try to eat anything at least once. Second, the two species
are not close relatives; the sperm whale’s close relatives are the Kogia
whales, two species of really small cetaceans that look slightly like the sperm
whale does, but without the oversized head; there are plenty of debate as to
how close they are to the sperm whale… but they are still more closely related
to it than the killer whale does; more specifically, the sperm whale, the Kogia
whales, and the extinct Livyatan whale are one group, and the killer whale is
another, in the overall cetacean clan; and to involve the orca with the sperm
whales and their relatives is wrong and incorrect.
Yet genealogy does not really play a role in the
‘Jaws vs. Livyatan’ special, and it doesn’t matter; what matters is that
comparing sharks to cetaceans is like comparing apples to oranges… or even
potatoes – the two groups of animals are too different on the inside to compare
and contrast; but-
-but frankly, the ‘Jaws vs.’ series doesn’t care
about such scientific niceties; instead, in the best tradition of AFO, it does
its’ best to come across as both informative and entertaining; the version I
watched was rather skewed in favor of the sharks – but then again, these are
Shark Week specials after all – but still informative and entertaining enough
for me to watch till the end, even though the repetitive reiteration that the
CGI sharks act just as the live fish do was annoying. Still, the show was
better than the reality is, because real life flat-out sucks – but that is
another story.
For now, however, this is it. See you all soon!
No comments:
Post a Comment