That creates a record of the oceans they’ve been in as passengers on whales. To see if barnacles had the same properties long ago, Taylor hunted down fossils that lived on early humpback whales ...

Taylor showed me a graph on his laptop of data from a modern Alaskan humpback barnacle. “This is consistent with the whales feeding in Alaska,” he said, pointing to the data. “Then ...

The carcass of a huge humpback whale covered in barnacles and oozing body fluids ... to rot on the sand or back in the ocean can cause a number of issues. If left on the shore, the whale will ...

But over time, a whale can be slowed down by animals that are a mere fraction of its size: barnacles. These small, sticky crustaceans attach to whales’ skin and hitch a ride to filter more of ...

“It’s got to be the most exciting ... this particular whale’s age, health or what it’s doing here. “It does look like the animal doesn’t have a lot of barnacles on it.

The oceans are rich with microbes and parasites, as well as larger hitchhikers that ride on whales, like barnacles and remora suckerfish. "One of the biggest problems for the whales is that there ...

Dr Pirotta cited darkened skin and barnacles on the throat as key ... “It seems to most likely be a white whale or at least a whale that has been a darker pigmentation that potentially has ...

Why the whale decided to emphasize its tail is unknown, but onlookers said it can be as a means of communication, exercise, a way to remove barnacles from their body or even to help digest food.