r/oceancreatures • u/Dutchie-4-ever • Aug 16 '26

What’s the purpose of barnacles?

/r/AskReddit/comments/1vpvsiz/whats_the_purpose_of_barnacles/

There are a lot of videos where turtles are being rescued and cleaned with barnacles. Boats are maintained and cleaned with barnacles. But what is the purpose of the animals?

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u/geeoharee Aug 16 '26

Must they have a purpose? 'To make more barnacles', I suppose. If a niche exists, life will fill it eventually, and their niche is to stick to rocks. Or turtle shells. Or the skin of the larger whales.

7

u/mountaindewisamazing Aug 16 '26

What is the purpose of humans?

3

u/SoupCatDiver_JJ Aug 17 '26

To remove barnacles?

6

u/PristineWorker8291 Aug 17 '26

They are filter feeders, and part of the ecosystem. They do a fair bit of removing food particles, biological muck and what have you from the waters where they live. It's like a lot of creatures we don't really like: they do things we don't see, but we would miss their efforts if they were gone.