Because whales and great white sharks are at the top of the food chain in the ocean, they are often compared to each other. In the comparison, we found that regardless of the differences in force values, body shapes, and biological species of the two, the most obvious thing is their different performance in appearance. Simply put, it is the cleanliness of the "clothes".
It is clear that the same creatures living in the sea, the body of the great white shark always looks clean, while most whales always have some attachments on the body, why?
Whales always have "pimples" attached to their bodies
Whales and great white sharks
As mammals living in the ocean, whales often conquer humans with their "ingenuity", so they have gained a lot of fans. There are many whales in the world, and everyone is more familiar with sperm whales, blue whales, humpback whales and killer whales, among which the famous scene of "humpback whales beating killer whales" is always talked about.
It should be noted that many people think of whales as fish when they first see them, after all, there is not much difference between their appearance and fish, but in fact, this guy is an viviparous mammal, and from a certain point of view, it is still a "close relative" with humans.
Whales are viviparous mammals that have been closely related to humans throughout evolutionary history
Because they need to breathe with their lungs, whales float to replace the air after swimming in the middle of the sea for a while. At this time, they will use the water fountain above their head for breathing, and when they exhale, the "fountain" that everyone often sees will appear. The shape of the fountain spewed out by different whale spouts will also be significantly different.
Next, let's take a look at the great white shark.
As a typical image in "disaster movies", everyone often has a bad sense of the great white shark, and feels that it is a representative of bloodthirst. However, research shows that bull sharks may often attack people, and great white sharks are just a "back-pot man".
Great white sharks always give bull sharks a "back pot man"
From the appearance alone, this guy is indeed very scary, not only his eyes are "cold and ruthless", but his jagged fangs are even more terrifying. In addition, they are very curious, and no matter what they see, they want to come up and take a bite to see what it tastes like. Therefore, stones, wood and even iron stones are often found in the stomach of a dead great white shark, raising suspicions that this guy may have "pica".
Unlike whales, which belong to mammals, great white sharks are real "fish" or cartilaginous fish, so they, like other fish, use their gills to breathe.
Great white sharks are cartilaginous fish that rely mainly on gills for breathing
Because they are creatures at the front end of the food chain, there is still competition between great white sharks and most whales. The most "naughty" killer whale among whales is the natural enemy of great white sharks.
This guy is not only larger than the great white shark in size, but his IQ is not at the same level, so when the great white shark meets the killer whale, he will basically choose to "slip". But picky killer whales sometimes take the initiative to look for great white sharks, wanting to trade their fresh liver for taste.
Killer whales actively seek out great white sharks
Moreover, from the appearance point of view, the "clean appearance" of great white sharks is not so prominent, because the skin of killer whales seems to be smoother and brighter than that of great white sharks. Of course, other whales are not as clean as killer whales, and they have a lot of "bumps" on them.
So, what exactly causes this?
Why is living together in the sea so different?
There is a special class of creatures in the ocean, which humans call fouling creatures. These guys like to attach themselves to the bottom of the boat or other sea creatures, and the worst and most difficult to remove is probably the "barnacle".
There are many defaced creatures in the ocean, the most annoying of which is barnacles
The vast majority of sea creatures are this guy's "free mounts", and it will attach to these creatures to eat and drink along the way.
Barnacles go through several stages of development throughout their lives, and initially they were just an inconspicuous mollusk drifting in the ocean. After choosing the right mount, the barnacle will secrete a "glue" stronger than 502 to stick itself to the creature's body, and arm itself with a calcium shell to become a "poison-inviolable" guy.
The calcareous shell of barnacles makes it look invincible
Since this guy does not talk about martial virtue, he dares to attach anywhere, and he will also drag his family to breed on the organism, so it has brought a huge impact to many marine creatures. In addition, don't look at it as a small one, riding on the whale's "head" is not less.
Of course, not all whales will be tortured by barnacles, only whales that swim slower will be targeted by barnacles, such as humpback whales, gray whales, right whales, great finned whales and so on. Famous "ocean street skates" like killer whales rarely give barnacles a chance to stick their own.
However, some studies have shown that "whale barnacles" have been found on killer whales living in South Africa, which can adapt to rapidly changing water currents, so even killer whales cannot escape its clutches.
Whale barnacles have been found on killer whales
So why do these whales suffer from barnacles?
There are three main reasons, the first of which we said above, because these whales swim slowly, and barnacles can catch them. The second point is that once adhered, the development mechanism of barnacles will allow it to continue to root downward, enter the fat layer of whales, and become "lice" that cannot be shaken off.
The third point is that whales are large and have thick skin, which gives barnacles room to play, so they like to use whales as a "base".
Whales are large, and barnacles can pick "seats" at will
So, why aren't great white sharks targeted by barnacles? Is it just because they are not big enough to look good for barnacles?
Of course not, if it's because of its size, then why did turtles smaller than whales not escape the "poisonous hands" of barnacles?
Compared to the whales above, great white sharks swim quite fast in the sea, which makes it difficult for barnacles to catch up with them. And if a scoundrel like a "whale barnacle" appears, will the great white shark still survive?
Sharks swim relatively fast in the sea
It is still possible to survive, because the shark's epidermis is covered by a layer of tooth-like shield scales, and these hard shield scales make the barnacle "impossible to get underfoot" and difficult to really take root in it. And even if it takes root smoothly, the mechanism of the Great White Shark Shield Scale that is often updated will ruthlessly shake the barnacle away.
In addition to this, great white sharks tend to have many "cleaners" around them. These inconspicuous little fish act like little followers of great white sharks, not only helping them to orient, but also cleaning up the "attachment" between their teeth or on their bodies. In this case, barnacles simply do not have time for "lewd development".
There are often many "cleaners" in the vicinity of sharks
It is worth mentioning that the special shield scales on shark skin actually have other functions, do you know what it is?
The "shield scales" on the great white shark have other functions
Many people who know about great white sharks think that this guy swims in the sea at an astonishing speed. In addition to its streamlined body, this swimming speed is also closely related to the shield scales on the body.
The shield scales on shark skin also help increase swimming speed
In general, such shield scales are diamond-shaped with a grooved structure on the surface. This structure can effectively optimize the structure of the fluid boundary on the surface of the great white shark, and ultimately reduce the resistance of the water body.
On the surface, it is difficult to observe these shield scales because their length is generally between 100 microns and 200 microns, and the morphology changes greatly in different parts.
It is difficult to see the structure of the shield scales with the naked eye, and it needs to be seen under a microscope
However, when people found this special thing on shark skin, they began to study shark skin bionics, so that some of our devices can also obtain a similar "drag reduction effect".
Data show that for example, the Airbus A340, a subsidiary of Cathay Pacific Airways in Hong Kong, China, has been coated with imitation sharkskin film for a long time, which can increase the profit by 6% per flight, and the annual profit of each passenger aircraft can increase by about 1 million US dollars, and there are considerable environmental benefits.