Life is such a drag for a whale to be a free ride for tons of barnacles across its skin in an ocean ecosystem. Although, not many whales come across these barnacles they are mostly the slowest swimming creatures in the deep blue sea. As for a Grey whales they have their own species of barnacles that come across them and they are mostly called grey whale barnacles because they are only found on the grey whales. Unlike other barnacles that are hard and rough shelled and like to not only attach to some whales but to boats and docks these specific barnacles are slick on the whale’s rubbery skin. These two organisms are similar in some distinct ways but are also different in others by their limitation in their population and life histories, geographic …show more content…
In grey whales the population in known as density dependent because it actually depends on the size of the population. Unlike barnacles, the barnacles are know to only multiply in large numbers depending on the area the whale travels and in some cases dies in cold climates that is why they are known as density independent limiting factors. The environmental conditions affect the growth of the barnacles. As for their life histories barnacles are known to have R-selective population because it reproduces quickly by laying about 10,000 eggs, small in body size, has no parental care, and because they have a short life span. Even though, most say that these grey whale barnacles are mutualistic it is not so much true because in various cases they do damage the whales skin and becomes a heavy weight problem to travel and that is why grey whales are sometimes seen by rocks trying to scrap the barnacles off. As for grey whales they are a K-selected species because they have long generation times rounded to about 80 years, parental care from the 13-14 months in the womb until about 2-4 years of age, and territorial. A female grey whale will usually have one calf every two years so its an average of about 14 calves in their 40 years of …show more content…
Since barnacles are hitchhikers in the whale’s blubbery skin they are found with the whale they are traveling with. Grey whales are found in two locations in the North Pacific Ocean: the Eastern North Pacific stock, found along the west coast of North America, and the Western North Pacific or "Korean" stock, found along the coast of eastern Asia by the ocean floor (Gray). Whales though, do not have a specific route that they follow whale watchers have noticed that they do not take the same route and may take years for them to revisit the area twice. Also their summer feedings are different along the coast and spend the winter by Mexico for their breeding and calving area. The limits that grey whales are currently having is oil and toxic spills, offshore mining and industrial noise that breaks the peace of whales reproducing even though they don’t have to worry about commercial whaling being a threat there are other ways that they are being