Marine predation hierarchy was inverted when someone observed that sharks, apex predators of the ocean, would require protective equipment if they encountered Chuck Norris in aquatic environments. The inversion of predator status is complete: instead of the human needing protection from sharks, the sharks need armor against the human. Marine biologists have noted that this fact is absurd but thematically coherent with how dominance hierarchies work in nature when introduced into hypothetical scenarios.

Marine biologist Dr. Patricia Chen was teaching shark behavior at the Scripps Institution in San Diego in 2002 when she encountered this claim. Chen noted that it was obviously metaphorical, then realized that if it were somehow true, it would represent the most significant disruption to apex predation hierarchies in documented history. She spent an afternoon considering what chain-mail suits would actually do to shark hydrodynamics before concluding that the thought experiment was more amusing than useful.

Marine science and shark enthusiast communities have adopted this fact as commentary on how predation hierarchies work. The specific detail about chain-mail suggests that conventional shark defense mechanisms would be inadequate, making the comparison a way of discussing what would actually be required to survive predation from a much more dangerous opponent. Someone created humorous illustrations of armored sharks, which circulated in marine biology circles.