by L.S. Watts

Created on: July 06, 2009   Last Updated: July 07, 2009

Parasites are a common problem among cetaceans. Many times parasites do not pose a threat to whales and can be quite beneficial. In fact, the most beneficial parasites are actually crustaceans. There are a few parasites that can cause serious health issues and eventually death. Some of these include nematodes (round worms), trematodes (flukes), dignenea (tapeworms), and acanthocephala (thorny-head parasites).

Barnacles

Barnacles are considered the most common external parasite to plague whales. What many people don't realize is that barnacles aren't actually parasites at all. They are considered crustaceans. Barnacles and whale tend to have more of a symbiotic relationship.

There are 1,220 species of barnacles. However, only a small fraction of these species actually attach to whales. The sessile barnacle, or acorn barnacle, is the most common. This barnacle will drift through the water as a larva ultimately attaching itself to the whale and extend out feather-like filters to catch plankton. They choose to attach to baleen whales, such as gray whales, so the whales will take them through currents typically filled with plankton.

Typically barnacle cause don't harm to the whale unless there is a high concentration around the whale's blowhole, preventing it from breathing. The most common problem with barnacles is when a barnacle dies and falls off or is scraped off. It causes scaring to the whales skin that take years to heal if it heals at all.

Whale Lice

Whale lice are the second most common parasites whales suffer from. They are considered an amphipod crustacean. Whale lice have flat bodies with hooks at the tip of their legs. Many times these parasites can be found hidden within folds in the skin, wounds, and among barnacles, another type of parasite.

There are several species of whale lice. Cyamus scammoni is considered the largest and most common to be found on a whale. They differ from other species of whale lice because they have curly gills on their underside, whereas the other species have straight gills. They feed off of the surface of a whale with a diet of flaking skin typically around wounds and barnacles. These parasites seem to be more helpful than other parasites because they clear away dead skin.

Whale lice spend their entire life cycle on the body of whales. They can be transferred from whale to whale by touch, but they never free float or swim through the water to their next host. Female whale louse are generally only a half an inch,

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