Humpback whales set up a spa on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean

This is how they keep their skin healthy and fight parasites.

For the first time, footage has been released of humpback whales shedding dead skin and parasites to stay slim and keep their skin healthy. It turned out that rare animals arrange a spa right on the seabed.

In the video, whales roll on the sandy seabed of the Pacific Ocean in the Gold Coast. Giant mammals make full and lateral rolls at a depth of up to 50 meters. This is how whales shed ectoparasites that make huge animals less dynamic. Humpback whales specifically choose places suitable for peeling, marine biologists say.

Humpback whales have been spotted swimming along the sea floor before, but this is the first time researchers have recorded rolling on the sand. Whales need to remove parasites to stay streamlined and store more energy. Whale rolling can also be associated with social activities such as playing or relaxing. Biologists have observed this behavior in the context of communication—after courtship or rivalry, but also after other forms of communication.

The humpback whale is a species found throughout the World Ocean and partly along the adjacent seas from the tropical zone to high latitudes, except for the ice regions of the Arctic and Antarctic. Despite this, it is listed in the IUCN Red List. Herds of humpback whales migrate based on food availability, with some populations swimming over 7,000 km in search of feeding grounds. In the World Ocean, there are three large isolated populations and 9-10 individual herds of humpback whales.