Removing Barnacles on Whales 🐳 Why Do Barnacles Stick to Whales' Bodies? - Quom

Percebes, sea whales or seabirds, scientifically known as SCP whales, are a specific type of cyrripedes, which are marine crustaceans. These organisms adhere to the skin of whales through a complex biological process. But to know how they stick to whales, we must know their development stages. When they begin their life, they have the characteristic of a nauplio larva, which are the first beginnings of crustacean life, which go through several larval stages. When they are in their cypris stage, that is, the stage before they become adults, they use their specialized peduncles to firmly adhere to the body of whales or any other hard surface. They stick to their body by secreting a super potent natural glue that allows them to fix themselves securely. They can develop their entire life there, stuck to the body of whales. They can even reproduce on their body thanks to their huge reproductive organ. Reproduction is achieved by using the Percebes' reproductive apparatus, which is the longest in the entire animal kingdom in relation to the proportion of the size of their body, since a Percebes that can measure only 2 cm can have a penis that reaches 7 cm. In this way, they use the body of the whale to expand their prole. When they reproduce, they stay to live in the whales because they are ethical animals. Being ethical animals, that is, animals that adhere to any kind of hard thing and remain there for the rest of their lives, some tend to adhere to the body of animals or things, such as sea turtles, whales, manatees, ships and many other places. The accumulation of Percebes in the body of whales can have several adverse effects when they have high amounts of Percebes. It's like carrying a heavy backpack all the time. First, the presence of these organisms can generate constant friction during the movement of the whale through the water, which can result in irritation, abrasions and even skin injuries. Second, the excessive accumulation of Percebes can increase resistance to movement, affecting the ability of the whale to swim efficiently, hunt and perform other essential activities. But why can't turtles or whales be removed? Is it so difficult to remove them? The answer is yes. To remove the Percebes, whales employ a series of strategies. One of the most common ways is by rubbing. Whales rub against objects such as rocks, buoys or other underwater structures to try to evict the organisms attached to their skin. Likewise, some whales can scratch their skin with their fins to remove the Percebes, but being short, they do not have a large range of arrival that covers their entire enormous body. Migration is also used to remove the Percebes from the body. In some cases, whales can migrate to cold waters where they do not usually inhabit many species of cirripedos, which allows them to clean their skin naturally. In extreme cases, when the accumulation of organisms is excessive and represents a risk to the whale's health, human interventions can be carried out to clean the animal's skin manually. Interventions like the two we will see below. It is appreciated how this man with delicacy removes the Percebes from the body of this whale. I'm going to let him sing now. Where's the one that can't sing? The one that can't sing for me. The one that goes... Here we can see how he removes a parasite that was stuck to it. Percebes do not eat whales, but they can damage their correct development and even cause problems in their body. Even so, we cannot call Percebes parasites, since to be a parasite, it would need to feed on its host. In this case, feed on the turtle, and although it does harm its health, these do not feed on it, so it is not a parasite. It could be said that it is an epibiont, that is, an organism that lives on top of another living being, but does not feed on it. But there is a Percebe parasite. The so-called Anelasma squalicola is capable of eating flashlight sharks. This Percebe has evolved to become a parasite of these sharks. Even Darwin, a Percebes fanatic, spoke of them in 1851 and described them as parasites. These Percebes have a kind of stem or pendulum that visually resembles the root of a tree and also works in a similar way. This stem is introduced into the flashlight shark and the species of roots begin to filter nutrients from the shark's meat. Look, here are more videos. Do not leave without leaving a like, comment and subscribe. That helps us a lot. See you!