Barnacles are small sea creatures related to crabs and lobsters. They're one of Earth's oldest species, and you can tell just by looking at their simple design. Barnacles start as small larvae in the sea. Many marine biologists believe that barnacles sync up their breeding time with that of whales. So, when whales gather in warm, shallow waters, barnacle larvae grab the chance to latch onto them, making the whale's skin their new home. There are more than 1,000 barnacle species. When barnacles attach to whales, they usually have a give-and-take relationship with their massive hosts. Whale barnacles may have evolved from turtle barnacles around three million years ago.

Marianne Porter, a biologist at Florida Atlantic University who was not involved in the study, told the Times the researchers’ work was “a great example of how science should work—a question going from one place to another.” Barnacles can be harmful because they latch onto and multiply on the undersides of ships, oil rigs, and deep-sea equipment, causing damage over time. Kidadl is independent and to make our service free to you the reader we are supported by advertising. W​hen barnacles die, they naturally detach themselves from whales and fall to the bottom of the sea. This means that any barnacles you see on a whale are still alive.Young barnacles secrete a cement-like substance that hardens into plates around them. These plates then mesh together, gripping the whale's skin tightly and basically becoming a somewhat permanent part of the whale. At Kidadl we pride ourselves on offering families original ideas to make the most of time spent together at home or out and about, wherever you are in the world. We strive to recommend the very best things that are suggested by our community and are things we would do ourselves - our aim is to be the trusted friend to parents. The idea was inspired by the fact that the calcite plates that make up barnacle shells grow by depositing new material at the base. This leaves 'tree-ring' like growth layers that preserve a chemical and temperature signature of the waters in which the barnacles are growing.

Because barnacles burrow their way into whales’ skin, it’s easy to assume they bother the whales. However, these travel partners actually don’t cause whales any harm at all. Barnacles generally don't harm whales, so there's no need to remove them. However, if there are too many, they might irritate the whale skin. When barnacles dig in, they can sometimes scrape off the top layer of the whale's skin. However, if whales are covered in hundreds or thousands of barnacles, they may become uncomfortable. In such large quantities, the barnacles may also increase the drag a whale experiences as it swims through the water, slowing it down. Are barnacles on whales alive? It's typically best to let whales remove barnacles on their own. Trying to remove them can harm the whale's skin, as barnacles latch on deeply. Whales and barnacles share a relationship called commensalism. The barnacles benefit the most, hitching a ride on whales for protection and food. Meanwhile, they don't harm the whales. It's a one-sided, harmless free ride.The team's 211 minutes of video footage and whale tag data processed by researchers at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center captured a total of 27 remoras at 61 locations on the whales overall, finding that the remoras were most often podding and traveling between three of the most hydrodynamically beneficial spots where separating flow and wakes are caused by the whale's distinct topographical features: directly behind the blowhole, next to and behind the dorsal fin, and the flank region above and behind the pectoral fin. Thankfully, whales do not rub up against ships to try to rub barnacles off of their skin. If they do wish to remove the barnacles, they will choose to rub on a solid surface such as the sea floor rather than a moving object such as a ship. Final thoughts Surprisingly, barnacles don’t stay on whales very long. They typically die or are sloughed off about a year after attaching to the whale, making space for the next round of barnacles. How do whales get rid of barnacles? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filter_feeder#:~:text=Most%20species%20of%20barnacles%20are,feeders%20during%20their%20aquatic%20stage

Having hundreds or thousands of hard-shelled creatures living on your body at any given time sounds uncomfortable and painful, but there’s actually a good reason for barnacles to live on whales. Barnacles latch onto whales for a safe home, plenty of water to filter-feed from, and space to grow their colonies.I​t can be hard to tell, though—like many other crustaceans, barnacles barely ever move. The hard shell they build hides their delicate bodies from view. https://propspeed.com/media/news/news-item/2021/01/18/what-exactly-are-barnacles-anyway#:~:text=Because%20they%20are%20filtering%20organisms,food%20source%20for%20these%20animals The financial and practical difficulties of moving a dead whale, which can weigh between 1 and 40 tonnes, are heightened by the potential for the decomposing carcass to become explosive. In a study published Oct. 28 in the Journal of Experimental Biology, an international team of researchers studying the unique fluid environments of blue whales traveling off the coast of Palos Verdes and San Diego, CA has reported capturing the first-ever continuous recording of remora behavior on a host organism, using advanced biosensing tags with video recording capabilities.

Organisations around the world have used various methods to deal with the giant carcasses before they become an injury risk, with varying degrees of success. Keep reading to learn more about what barnacles are. We’ll also discuss why they live on whales, if they bother them, and how the whales can get rid of them. Why do whales have barnacles on them? T​he barnacles found on whales are a type of crustacean that attach themselves to a surface and stay there until they die or are brushed off. The barnacles you see on whales belong to a specific species known as acorn barnacles. A single whale may have up to 1,000 pounds of barnacles living on it at a time.The acorn barnacle is the most common type you'll find, and it's usually round with six hard, fused plates made of calcium. Whale barnacles are a kind of acorn barnacle. Their soft bodies poke out from the center, shielded by extra top plates that can open and close to keep their insides safe. Like many other sea creatures, barnacles are unique and minimally understood. Because they are hard to locate and examine, most of what we know about barnacles comes from observing them as whales migrate. Rendering, which is increasingly being used in the UK, involves separating cetacean remains into pieces, boiling them down and combining them with alcohol to create biodiesel. But the relationship isn't purely one-sided. Though it might seem like barnacles get a free ride, they're not just lounging around. They aren’t draining any energy from the whales, and in a surprising twist, these tiny critters might just play the role of unexpected protectors. Their hardy shells can serve as a shield for whales against potential sea threats.