Today we'll take a look:
寄生在海龟、鲸鱼、船舶、海上石油平台等身上的藤壶，究竟有多么的可怕？
The appearance of barnacles not only has a certain impact on marine life, but even our buildings will be hindered by it, causing certain effects and harms. No one would have thought that a small barnacle could cause so much harm.
So what else do you know about barnacles besides being harmful?
You can think about it.
If we don't have an answer, let's take a look! If we have the answer in mind, let's see if it's what you think.
In recent years, we have spotted whales surfacing multiple times to seek help from humans. If we look closely, we will see that there are a large number of barnacles on their backs and sides, and it is precisely because of these inconspicuous things that whales are tormented.
In addition to our whales being tormented by barnacles, sea turtles are also afflicted by barnacles. At least more than 80% of sea turtles are afflicted by barnacles, and even more so because of their slow movements, which facilitate barnacle parasitism. As soon as this picture passed in my mind, it was really unbearable to look at it directly.
Once barnacles are attached to them, they can't help but flap desperately with their fins, trying to slap these down, but to no avail. These barnacles cling to whales, turtles, etc., like kraft candy. For sea creatures, barnacles are "parasitic demons".
They seem to be torturing these sea creatures day and night, and even have an urge not to let go until they die. 随着藤壶被人们了解之后，更是称其为：“海龟杀手”、“鲸鱼杀手”。 Of course, barnacles also have another title.
If you have this title, you will answer it later!
In fact, it's not just the marine life that suffers, but even our buildings on the surface of the sea suffer from barnacles.
Especially with a large number of barnacles attached to the bottom of our ships and offshore oil platforms, don't think that parasitizing on our buildings is harmless, it's not that simple. The harm caused by barnacles is far more complex than we think, and can even hinder the power and movement of the boat.
For example: ships.
After the barnacles have been clinging to the ship for a certain amount of time, they will consume the fuel of our ship. Because barnacles will cause the resistance of the ship to increase, the speed will decrease, and the fuel use will be greatly increased. Attachment to offshore oil platforms will also reduce the robustness of offshore oil platforms and weaken their ability to resist storms and seawater.
What's more, barnacles are very reproductive. As long as they are in a warm marine environment, they can generally reproduce all year round. A barnacle can reproduce 3,000-4,000 barnacles, but as they grow in size, so does their reproduction.
So how are barnacles formed?
Barnacles belong to the phylum Arthropods, Crustacea, Cranopod, Barnacles. There are more than 500 family members, and about 110 in the mainland. Barnacles have a strong adaptability to the salinity and temperature of seawater,
It is understood that the formation of barnacles tends to go through three stages: planktonic, nauplii, and glandular larvae.
Barnacles are very metamorphosed in their larval stage, they do not need to eat, and will only constantly choose to attach themselves to their preferred environment. 例如：幼虫时期，藤壶会游到鲸鱼的身体表面，并使用头部及背板向着鲸鱼的皮肤里面钻进去，完成这一任务就会分泌类似胶水一样的东西，慢慢的与鲸鱼融为一体。
At this stage, they also multiply and spread all over the attachments. I can't get rid of them if I want to, and at first glance it's a difficult guy.
In fact, barnacles are so widely distributed that they can be found in shallow intertidal to subtidal waters in almost any sea. This is definitely numb to the scalp when seen by people with dense phobia, and it looks like a "little eye", which is really weird and scary.
So then again, in the face of these barnacles, are we really helpless?
If you've ever seen a human handling barnacles, you'll see that they're really hard to handle. Some parts can be cut off by hand, but some need to be stamped and snatched, steel rods, etc. Of course, according to the principles adopted in the current antifouling technology and antifouling research, it is divided into physical antifouling, chemical antifouling and biological antifouling.
- Physical antifouling method: manual or mechanical removal method, filtration method, heating method, etc.;
- Chemical anti-fouling method: the use of chemical substances to poison marine fouling organisms to prevent them from attaching;
- Biological antifouling method: The use of bioactive substances as antifouling agents to prevent fouling of marine fouling organisms.
With today's development, we can get rid of barnacles.
And when it comes to barnacles, another title is - "seafood from hell".
Seeing whether this title is a foodie or not, the essence is revealed.
Is it also difficult to understand why barnacles can be eaten?
In fact, barnacles are "distant relatives" of shrimp and crabs.
People will think that shrimp and crabs can be eaten, why barnacles can't, so after people continue to understand, it happens that not all barnacles can be eaten, but some can be eaten. Coastal people would also boil barnacles for water to drink, or dry their meat before eating. 例如：鹅颈藤壶能吃，但想要吃上它的话没有那么容易，太贵了！
而生长在鲸鱼身上的号角藤壶是不能吃的。
As the saying goes, "the world is so big that there are no wonders".
But we also need to understand that barnacles are still relatively harmful, they can make marine life very painful, and even torture them to death. There is also a certain danger to our buildings at sea, so once we find it, we must clean it up immediately, in this case, we can reduce the harm to them.