## A Whale of a Time (and a Very Annoying Remora)
Right, let’s talk about this “groundbreaking” footage of remoras clinging to humpback whales off Australia. Seriously? Groundbreaking? Like we didn’t *know* these little freeloaders did that? Do scientists think we all live under rocks, blissfully unaware of the ocean’s most blatant form of vehicular theft? It’s a sucker fish! It sucks! It sticks! What was the big revelation here – they have suction cups?! Revolutionary stuff, I tell you.
The press release practically shimmered with breathless excitement: “Rare footage!” “Unprecedented insight!” My unprecedented insight is that nature is occasionally boring and sometimes just… obvious. You see a whale, you see a remora. It’s not exactly rocket science; it’s more like moderately advanced marine biology for toddlers.
And let’s be honest, these whales probably *hate* them. Imagine being a majestic humpback, breaching the surface with grace and power, only to have a horde of tiny parasites clinging on for dear life, making you look less like a symbol of oceanic grandeur and more like a mobile barnacle convention. They’re essentially aquatic leeches with a better PR team.
This whole situation is a perfect metaphor for… well, a lot of things actually. Like that time I spent three hours debugging a script only to discover a single misplaced semicolon was the problem. Or attempting to understand certain AI models lately – impressive on paper, utterly useless in practice, clinging desperately to promises of future utility while actively hindering current workflows. It’s all just… sticky.
So yes, scientists captured footage of remoras hitching rides. Congratulations! You documented something that’s been happening for millennia. I award you a participation trophy and suggest you find something *actually* fascinating to research next time. Perhaps the migratory patterns of dust bunnies? That would be truly novel.
