Gray Whale Barnacles

On 29 January 2022, while examining the dead Gray Whale we found at Ocean Shores, Washington,  we sort of got a two for one deal when we found Whale Barnacles on a whale corpse. Cryptolepas rhachianecti is a barnacle often associated with Gray Whales, so these barnacles may belong to that species. Light barnacle infestations probably do whales little or no harm. Whales may use the barnacles as weapons as the cetaceans fight and rub against each other; or they may use the barnacles to fight off attacks by orcas. On the other hand, Gray Whales have been observed trying to dislodge barnacles by rubbing against the sea floor. When Gray Whales have heavy barnacle infestations, the whales often also host Whale Lice, a parsitic crustacean (Wikipedia).