Below is a food web from an ocean ecosystem in Monterey Bay, off the coast of California.

Question

Which two of the following organisms are tertiary consumers in this food web?

sea otter
plainfin midshipman
orca
zooplankton
kelpbass

Answer 1

In a food web, tertiary consumers are typically the predators that eat secondary consumers. Based on the organisms you've provided, the two tertiary consumers would be:

1. Sea otter - They eat herbivores like urchins or other invertebrates and can also consume fish.
2. Orca - Orcas are apex predators that can eat a wide variety of marine life, including other fish and mammals.

Therefore, the two tertiary consumers in this food web are the sea otter and the orca.