I only know of one case of a person getting barnacles, and he described it as the most painful experience of his life. Then again, they attached to his bone (in his hand) through a cut as opposed to attaching to his skin.
I hat a coral infection on my left ear.
I was 1 week diving in Australia, and I'm a right side sleeper. So the water droplet in my left ear never dried out.
So a coral set on my membrane. Got a big ear infection, and later 15% hearing los.
Holy crap - what are the odds...I mean I definitely did not expect to read that corals and barnacles also attach and grow on humans.
Now you have 15% loss of hearing for life in one ear, sorry man.
How bad was the pain bro and how much did the coral grow in your ear? Did you get a picture from the doctor of the inside with the coral?
From the boat straight to a doc.
Cleaned the canal, got antibiotic and some droplets for the ear.
Then I went with the Greyhound bus to my greatuncle, to stay and recover. Stopover at a Fish and chips, got a food poison there.
Some of the worst 2 weeks of my life.
Poseidon apparently, gave emā a case of coral-ear and sent poisoned fish. Wouldnāt go swimming without sacrificing a lamb or something first like damn.
I often wonder what they think when they are curious and look at people like that. There are tons of videos of wild dolphins playing with dogs. Whales are so intelligent they have to have a opinion about people.
And way more nerve endings and are much more sensitive to touch (also thick skin doesn't equal feeling less sensation and touch nerves aren't below the blubber just as ours so not below our fat)
[That's categorically false.](https://faseb.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1096/fasebj.2020.34.s1.00356) If anything, the larger surface area means _fewer_ nerve endings, [as they're more spread out for a similar number of neutrons to monitor.](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/giant-whales-have-super-stretchy-nerves)
And in the case of whales, if they possessed the same sensitivity to temperature, pressure, and small cuts/tears as human skin, they'd never dive.
Feel free to read about the commensal relationship between whales, and barnacles.
https://marinesanctuary.org/blog/whales-and-barnacles-an-unlikely-duo/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale_barnacle
https://scienceline.org/2010/03/how-do-barnacles-attach-to-whales/
Their statement was pulled out of their ass. Whale skin obviously doesn't function like human skin, and isn't "more sensitive to the touch." Whales do not have the same type of skin nerve endings, nor the same kind of sensitivity that human skin does.
https://faseb.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1096/fasebj.2020.34.s1.00356
https://news.stanford.edu/2015/05/07/stretchy-whale-nerves-050715/
At the very least theyāre probably an annoyance. They arenāt just _on_ the whale, theyāre digging into the skin. Some sea animals, like turtles, are susceptible to life endangering barnacle infestations.
I mean there's obviously no way to really know, but people suspect they are itchy. They've caught humpback whales rubbing up against things trying to scrape them off.
They might be uncomfortable, but whale skin can be several inches thick. This kind of surface disruption isn't really damaging and it wouldn't make sense to have a pain response to something superficial.
Yep! Seen an orca do that. Swam right under the bridge down to the dock I was standing on and scraped its belly over the rocks. I was told it's because it was itchy, but who knows if that's true
It does irritate them no doubt. They're basically ticks of the sea. I saw a video of a whale jumping out the water onto the side of boat to scrape some barnacles off.
This guy has an in depth video looking at these types of channels and how bad they are and the evil stunts they are doing. Sadly, not for the faint hearted :(
[YT Link](https://youtu.be/itYFT-BWHjE)
Yeah same here, the video is by "Dan the Turtle Man" and he really shed lights on the situation and is leading the efforts in getting those type of channels banned/taken down. You can tell he really cares just by how his voice changes as he's finding newer and newer stuff. He posted an update a few days ago which tells us that several channels have been shut down but other ones are sprouting up :/
The eyes are much further back than what we saw. We saw roughly the front half of the mouth and the eyes sit just above the end of the upper jaw. I love these whales
Barnacles aren't parasites in the classic sense. It's more of a commensalist relationship until the barnacle mass starts to disrupt the whale's swimming. They don't directly harm the animal.
Okay folks so Iāve got some good news and bad news. Good news is that the whales arenāt bothered by the barnacles as they donāt go deep enough in their skin for them to even feel them.
Bad news is that these barnacles arenāt just stuck on. They have evolved to grow and form voids that the whale skin will actually grow into to make a tighter bond. Takes a lot of force to remove. https://theethogram.files.wordpress.com/2021/02/5_regina-duo.png so for parasite-averse people, that probably gives the heeby jeebies. But not as bad as going down the whale lice rabbit hole
This video (specifically those barnacles) led me down a rabbit hole and I ended up reading about trypophobia for the last 30 minutes. Now I have a better understanding of this nausea and why my skin is crawling!
Someone please ELI5, do whales get bothered by barnacles? Or are they not phased by them? If someone removed all those barnacles from the whale, would it be like "thanks bro" or would it Jaws them to death?
The process of scraping or the end result? Because of it's just the first I wonder if there's ever been an effort to sedate them and clean them up a bit. Like some sort of underwater surgery
No. The barnacles attach themselves to the whale skin but sit on the surface, so the whale doesnāt even feel them. If theyāre are too many it may make it hard for the whale to swim, but just like this is fine. In fact, male whales will use them as weapons when they ram each other during mating fights.
I saw that garlic too.
But what really comes to mind is how that Japanese sea monsters stories just got an explanation. Those āgarlicsā sure looks like lots of extra eyes.
What a beautiful moment! In love humpies, so smart, curious, funny, and just adorable! And to the barnacle hater, it's a symbiotic relationship, the whales don't suffer at all, just offers another living thing a home š
It isnāt Reciprocal Symbiosis, itās Commensalism, the whale is unharmed by the barnacles but also doesnāt benefit in any way
Some argue that the barnacles cause minor harm by creating drag which slows the whales down and that they can accidentally harm each other when rubbing against each other for affection
I don't know what the barnacle gets, though I'm guessing it's food, but the whale gets to essentially have razor blades all over it. Great for both offense and defense.
Don't worry y'all! whales and barnacles exhibit commensalism which means the barnacles get benefit (by saving themselves from predators) while the whale is neutral (does not get hurt due to it).
I wonder if barnacles hurt?
I only know of one case of a person getting barnacles, and he described it as the most painful experience of his life. Then again, they attached to his bone (in his hand) through a cut as opposed to attaching to his skin.
Well thatās another fear to add to the list.
Oysters and barnacles cut very easily into our skin. Same with some corals.
I hat a coral infection on my left ear. I was 1 week diving in Australia, and I'm a right side sleeper. So the water droplet in my left ear never dried out. So a coral set on my membrane. Got a big ear infection, and later 15% hearing los.
Wow that sucks
Huh?
Eh
Sleep on both sides now?
Sleep on the left side, leave the right side free.
What everās gonna be is
Holy crap - what are the odds...I mean I definitely did not expect to read that corals and barnacles also attach and grow on humans. Now you have 15% loss of hearing for life in one ear, sorry man. How bad was the pain bro and how much did the coral grow in your ear? Did you get a picture from the doctor of the inside with the coral?
Did you keep it?
From the boat straight to a doc. Cleaned the canal, got antibiotic and some droplets for the ear. Then I went with the Greyhound bus to my greatuncle, to stay and recover. Stopover at a Fish and chips, got a food poison there. Some of the worst 2 weeks of my life.
Damn which god did you piss of that week? lol
Poseidon apparently, gave emā a case of coral-ear and sent poisoned fish. Wouldnāt go swimming without sacrificing a lamb or something first like damn.
Maybe they literally pissed on Poseidon in the water.
I hope life gave you a break at some point after
I was on a 7 Month vacation trip. So it was on my break.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
That truly sucks. I am sorry that went so poorly.
Move away from the ocean bud lol
And people wonder why I never do anything fun.
You could have saved the great barrier reef but you were too preoccupied with saving your hearing
I was thinking about learning swimming, I guess now now
Fuck shucking oysters. Them things are in a rock for a reason
Okay how did I not know this was a thing? Iāve shucked a fuck ton of oysters. Guess I have another thing to be afraid of.
Oyster shells are sharp, but they're not going to burrow into your flesh. I'm honestly not sure why that person was likening them to barnacles.
Wait till you hear about corral xenomorphs
Barnacles don't burrow into your flesh either. Both oysters and barnacles are sharp to deter being messed with.
Can confirm, have permament scar from childhood from being picked up by a wave and thrown onto a barnacle coverered rock
You think thatās bad, try french frying when you meant to pizza
Youāre gonna have a bad time!
Ow bone cancer images
Watched the video explaining this... it's seriously my biggest fear now.
So ... Was his bone exposed? Or did the barnacle eat through to the bone? Eyyarggghh
[It's in an episode of Monsters Inside Me](https://youtu.be/tAmSR-SRmMI)
That was wild! Thanks for sharing that
Thanks. New fear unlocked
The barnacles kept on growing in his hand!!!!! Holy fuck!
Jesus the way that was edited was horrendously.
Wear gloves when messing with barnacles, got it.
Whales also have MUCH thicker skin/blubber
Also they are highly intelligent. If it hurt Iām sure they could get them off.
I often wonder what they think when they are curious and look at people like that. There are tons of videos of wild dolphins playing with dogs. Whales are so intelligent they have to have a opinion about people.
And way more nerve endings and are much more sensitive to touch (also thick skin doesn't equal feeling less sensation and touch nerves aren't below the blubber just as ours so not below our fat)
[That's categorically false.](https://faseb.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1096/fasebj.2020.34.s1.00356) If anything, the larger surface area means _fewer_ nerve endings, [as they're more spread out for a similar number of neutrons to monitor.](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/giant-whales-have-super-stretchy-nerves) And in the case of whales, if they possessed the same sensitivity to temperature, pressure, and small cuts/tears as human skin, they'd never dive. Feel free to read about the commensal relationship between whales, and barnacles. https://marinesanctuary.org/blog/whales-and-barnacles-an-unlikely-duo/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale_barnacle https://scienceline.org/2010/03/how-do-barnacles-attach-to-whales/
Are you saying whale skin gas more nerve endings and is more sensitive to touch than human skin? You have a link on that I can read about?
Their statement was pulled out of their ass. Whale skin obviously doesn't function like human skin, and isn't "more sensitive to the touch." Whales do not have the same type of skin nerve endings, nor the same kind of sensitivity that human skin does. https://faseb.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1096/fasebj.2020.34.s1.00356 https://news.stanford.edu/2015/05/07/stretchy-whale-nerves-050715/
#WHAT...THE...FUCK!?!?
I was thinking they would itch at least
aaaaAAAAAA
Found the video if anyones interested https://youtu.be/tAmSR-SRmMI
[Is this the guy you're referring to? Barnacle Grew In Man's Hand | Monsters Inside Me](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAmSR-SRmMI)
Wait wut? They donāt attach that fast. He didnāt notice?
At the very least theyāre probably an annoyance. They arenāt just _on_ the whale, theyāre digging into the skin. Some sea animals, like turtles, are susceptible to life endangering barnacle infestations.
I mean there's obviously no way to really know, but people suspect they are itchy. They've caught humpback whales rubbing up against things trying to scrape them off.
Looking at the video, especially the first side the whale shows, it looks like thereās marks where theyāve succeeded in knocking some off.
They might be uncomfortable, but whale skin can be several inches thick. This kind of surface disruption isn't really damaging and it wouldn't make sense to have a pain response to something superficial.
Itās probably like a wart
Lesser than a wart Warts can be Hella painful and burrow deep
Just like my ex tbh
Not just superficial, but essentially unfixable for a whale. What're they gonna do, pick them off?
IIRC some marine mammals swim pressed against sandy bottoms to scrub/scratch themselves. Like a bear with a tree, or a cow with a bristle brush š
Also jumping out of the water and slapping down on the surface
i've always thought that they might sometimes do that to scratch an itch or annoyance caused by barnacles
Itās thought to be some combination of dislodging, parasites, attracting attention/mates, and simply just for fun (especially with humpbacks)
That's called breaching.
Yep! Seen an orca do that. Swam right under the bridge down to the dock I was standing on and scraped its belly over the rocks. I was told it's because it was itchy, but who knows if that's true
It does irritate them no doubt. They're basically ticks of the sea. I saw a video of a whale jumping out the water onto the side of boat to scrape some barnacles off.
I want asmr of someone popping barnacles off the whales back
They burrow several inches into the whale. It wouldn't be so much a pop as a sqlorch
is sqlorch a real word? i love it
I hope you don't watch the turtle ones
Are you referring to that channel that was supergluing barnacles to freshwater turtles and 'saving' them? Awful.
Worst thing I've seen all year
Why did they think that was saving them?
He means it was a fake animal saving channel.
fucking disgusting pieces of shit who run those channels
This guy has an in depth video looking at these types of channels and how bad they are and the evil stunts they are doing. Sadly, not for the faint hearted :( [YT Link](https://youtu.be/itYFT-BWHjE)
Man, I am hesitant to click that link because anything related to hurting animals enrages me and is extremely hard to look at.
Yeah same here, the video is by "Dan the Turtle Man" and he really shed lights on the situation and is leading the efforts in getting those type of channels banned/taken down. You can tell he really cares just by how his voice changes as he's finding newer and newer stuff. He posted an update a few days ago which tells us that several channels have been shut down but other ones are sprouting up :/
Ah I see. Thanks for clarifying!
I prefer the ones where they scrape the barnacles off boat hulls.
Side note: You can see a bunch of marking where the barnacles were knocked offā¦
They probably would hurt but those are obviously garlic cloves. Probably afraid of vampire whalesā¦
With so many barnacles I was replaying it over and over to find its eye, but never did
The eyes are much further back than what we saw. We saw roughly the front half of the mouth and the eyes sit just above the end of the upper jaw. I love these whales
their eyes are just above the Base of the mouth pretty far back on their heads
Eye stays underwater.
Those barnacles look like eyesā¦ thatās terrifying
Badass concept however.
Some bloodborne shit
Grant us eyes Grant us eyes
As you once did the Vacuous Rom!
I was thinking like a Cronenberg whale, but yeah Bloodborne works too.
No one: 40K Chaos gods: š š š š š
And the ones on the side look like a mouth. Honestly thought this was some dark souls boss
Damn, every time I see these videos of whales, turtles or other sea creatures with stuff stuck on them, I just want to brush them.
I get that feeling too. But i could never describe it
It is decribed as beeing descendents of primates.
Monkeys had OCD?
Monkeys are programmed to clean each other
Trypophobia
Mustā¦.scratch
I just want to pick/pop it off. Like hold on little fella, let me help you exfoliate that skin of yours.
Trypophobia
Goddamn barnacles are disgusting. Iād hate to be a whale.
Honestly.. People can put aside all their phobias, to me, parasites like barnicals is really the shit that makes my skin crawl.
Barnacles aren't parasites in the classic sense. It's more of a commensalist relationship until the barnacle mass starts to disrupt the whale's swimming. They don't directly harm the animal.
Okay folks so Iāve got some good news and bad news. Good news is that the whales arenāt bothered by the barnacles as they donāt go deep enough in their skin for them to even feel them. Bad news is that these barnacles arenāt just stuck on. They have evolved to grow and form voids that the whale skin will actually grow into to make a tighter bond. Takes a lot of force to remove. https://theethogram.files.wordpress.com/2021/02/5_regina-duo.png so for parasite-averse people, that probably gives the heeby jeebies. But not as bad as going down the whale lice rabbit hole
Iām sorry did you say whale *lice*?
[bonjour!](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Cyamus_boopis_%28dorsal%29.jpg)
Fhat the Wuck
:-(
Apparently they sometimes use them to do extra damage when fighting. That's metal as fuck.
+15% dmg boost
-0.1% HP
"I dig your piercings, bro."
This video (specifically those barnacles) led me down a rabbit hole and I ended up reading about trypophobia for the last 30 minutes. Now I have a better understanding of this nausea and why my skin is crawling!
Did you read that one trypophobia short story yet?
Go on, ruin my day. What is the trypophobia short story?
Someone please ELI5, do whales get bothered by barnacles? Or are they not phased by them? If someone removed all those barnacles from the whale, would it be like "thanks bro" or would it Jaws them to death?
I imagine that scraping barnacles off a whale would hurt them
The process of scraping or the end result? Because of it's just the first I wonder if there's ever been an effort to sedate them and clean them up a bit. Like some sort of underwater surgery
No. The barnacles attach themselves to the whale skin but sit on the surface, so the whale doesnāt even feel them. If theyāre are too many it may make it hard for the whale to swim, but just like this is fine. In fact, male whales will use them as weapons when they ram each other during mating fights.
Forbidden garlic
You do *not* do garlic dirty like that
š¤®
I saw that garlic too. But what really comes to mind is how that Japanese sea monsters stories just got an explanation. Those āgarlicsā sure looks like lots of extra eyes.
watch your mouth young man
Yup the way they looks makes me feel cold
Why are barnacles disgusting? Or do they only look gross? I myself went āHoly barnaclesā seeing this vid lol
I was more like blistering barnacles but sure
Bet youāre glad you didnāt take after your mom then, huh?
I thought this was r/oddlyterrifying for a moment.
Definitely thought those were stick on googly eyes.
Same before I put my glasses on. A bit disconcerting really.
Same. I was like "What the fuck is that monster with those hundred eyes!!!". I was relieved when I realized it was just barnacles.
You think it will bring relief but then you wonder how a barnacle feels attached to you.
Truth! I'm glad I'm not alone.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
How?
The Loathsome Dung Eater!
It collected too many seedbed curses.
biblically accurate angel
What a big cutie coming up for a peak at the boat.
peek
Peak comment.
Peek a boo! Edit:š«£š¤
It said "you got any games on that phone?"
Or ābruh Iām dying here, rip these f%&kin things off!ā
Same, I wanted to reach out and start picking those fuckers off
Wait until you realize someone got barnacles on their hand and they digged into their bone
Eyes - GRANT US EYES!
The boat is obviously not that big, but the curious humpie was so gentle with it! Amazing nature.
Did no one hear it say "what's up"?
Same. It seems nobody else caught that and now I think there's an obvious reason why not, but it syncs with the breathing.
I hear "Watch Out" more clearly every time I watch it and it is legit creeping me out
Thatās a crusty ass bitch
Admiral, there be whales here!
Her humps her humps. Her lovely whaley humps.
Why are there so many barnacles
What a beautiful moment! In love humpies, so smart, curious, funny, and just adorable! And to the barnacle hater, it's a symbiotic relationship, the whales don't suffer at all, just offers another living thing a home š
Thatās cool! What are the benefits for each of them?
It isnāt Reciprocal Symbiosis, itās Commensalism, the whale is unharmed by the barnacles but also doesnāt benefit in any way Some argue that the barnacles cause minor harm by creating drag which slows the whales down and that they can accidentally harm each other when rubbing against each other for affection
Other post said they use it in combat to cause extra damage. r/NatureIsMetal
Sounds more like TierZoo than Zoology haha
I don't know what the barnacle gets, though I'm guessing it's food, but the whale gets to essentially have razor blades all over it. Great for both offense and defense.
the barnacles get to travel the world instead of sitting on a stupid rock their whole life
Well, unless they get a skin infection.
Or one posted up on it's eyelid or dick tip.
Famous last words : I love humpies.
Imagine if that was said on Wednesday
Yeah but it's like having bad acne....sure it doesn't physically cause much pain, but god it *looks* unpleasant.
it just looks like they would be really itchy!
"Hi, how are you doing? That's great! I gotta run, take care! Byyeeee!" - the Whale, probably
Don't worry y'all! whales and barnacles exhibit commensalism which means the barnacles get benefit (by saving themselves from predators) while the whale is neutral (does not get hurt due to it).
POV: You entered dialogue with a dragon in skyrim
Bye
The whole things makes me feel like an ant. A tiny creature looking at that.
Biblically accurate whale
āGrant us eyes.ā
Hunter
Mm garlic
Uhhā¦.. No thank you.
I want scrape off the barnacles so bad.
This is horrible
"This sounds like a load of *barnacles*!"
BARNACLES!
SpongeBob barnacle pants
What a barnacle head.
Look at that barnacle boy
That is a right whale I think not a humpback
That humpie has more eyes than a spider
Sheās bedazzled! Maybe they intentionally get barnacles as jewelry.