Overview
- Griffith University researchers attached suction-cup cameras to humpbacks off Australia and repeatedly filmed remoras clustering on the whales.
- Footage shows groups of up to about 50 remoras releasing just before a breach and reattaching to the same spots seconds after the whale re-enters the water.
- The fish feed on dead skin flakes and sea lice, offering cleaning benefits, yet whales were observed breaching repeatedly in apparent attempts to shed heavy hitchhiker loads.
- Remora australis cling using a specialized head plate that creates a vacuum-like seal, enabling them to ride out fast ascents and reposition quickly after impacts.
- Key questions remain about how long remoras accompany the roughly 10,000-km migration and how their likely spawning in the East Australian Current aligns with whale movements.