Cameras on Humpback Whales Show Sucker-Fish Hitchhiking on Them
Scientists mounted cameras on the backs of humpback whales and accidentally captured rare footage of sucker fish riding on them.
Dr Olaf Meynecke, a marine scientist at Griffith University, Australia, and co-leader of the Whales and Climate Research Program, recorded several videos of remoras (commonly referred to as “sucker fish”) hitchhiking on migrating humpback whales along the East Coast of Australia. The footage was collected using suction-cup cameras attached to the whales.
Meynecke initially placed the suction-cup cameras on humpback whales to study whale behavior during their annual migration from Antarctica to Queensland waters. But instead, he frequently found his video feeds filled with dozens of remoras. According to a report by AP, the sucker fish often appeared in groups of up to 50 in the videos — attaching to the same areas of the humpback whales where the cameras were placed.
In the footage, the sucker fish can be seen momentarily letting go of their host just before the whale breaches the water. They release their grip as the humpback surges upward, only to return to the whale’s body immediately after it splashes back into the ocean. The sequence shows the remoras reattaching with precision, riding the whale as it dives again off the coast.
Several species of remoras are reportedly found in Australia, where they attach to sharks, turtles, whales, dolphins, and occasionally even humans. The remoras do not harm the humpback whales and instead feed on the whales’ dead skin and sea lice in a relationship that benefits both species.
Despite this, Meynecke notes that the footage indicated the whales sometimes appeared irritated by their persistent passengers. He observed that humpback whales with many remoras repeatedly breached the water, seemingly attempting to shake off the fish and checking afterward to see if any had been dislodged.
“I think one of the biggest surprises when we investigate videos captured from our tags was the remoras’ ability to move around freely and keep returning to the whale’s body, even during very fast ascents to the surface and immediately after the whale breaches and returns to the water,” Dr Meynecke says in a Griffith University press release.
“We have also been able to observe a remora ingesting whale skin, suggesting that at times, when other ectoparasites were not available on the whale, they took advantage of the whales constantly shedding their skin. It was amazing to see how fast and nimble they were during several different rides with the whales.”
