00:00Now when it comes to the business of traveling the ocean, your best bet is to get someone
00:05else to do the hard work for you.
00:07And this guy is the ultimate ocean hitchhiker.
00:13Meet the remora, also known as the sucker fish for obvious reasons.
00:21These guys have adopted an amazing way of getting about.
00:25From the back of their head, this odd looking area of special bones and muscles can be used
00:30to stick, like a suction cup, onto a host of the remora's choosing.
00:36It certainly beats the bus, but is it as easy as it looks?
00:41Let's find out.
00:44I've got my sucker, which on a remora would be attached to the head.
00:47Mode of transportation, all I need now is a suitable host, and I think one's right here.
00:59So I've attached myself to my marine mammal and now I'm sitting pretty.
01:05The benefits here are that I don't actually need to expend any energy to stay attached.
01:11This all works on a passive muscle mechanism, like standing up, you don't even know you're
01:15doing it.
01:19Remoras have been known to latch onto boats or even scuba divers, but are usually found
01:24hanging out on sharks, rays and turtles.
01:30The hosts don't usually seem to mind, not that they have much of a choice in the matter.
01:36And this mode of megafauna transport has the added benefit of safety for the remora, because
01:41ain't nobody going to try and eat you when you're attached to the side of a massive shark.
01:47Also, the faster the host moves, the tighter the suction.
01:53Frankly, I'm living La Vida, but the only thing better than a free ride is a free lunch.
02:00Feeding time, yeah, come on.
02:04Higher, John, higher.
02:07No.
02:08Now the remora is perfectly placed to feed on all the scraps left over from the messy
02:16feeding host, and some of it can be a really quite high prize indeed, but it's not easy
02:22being a remora, because that food is coming fast and furious.
02:29Tasty.
02:30Tasty.
02:36What?
02:37I'm hungry.
02:39Even though remoras get up close and personal with their host, they aren't actually on the
02:44menu.
02:45These brave mothersuckers have even been found clinging on inside sharks' mouths.
02:50Now, that's what I call putting your money where your mouth is.
02:53But it's often not just food scraps.
02:56In fact, the majority of the remora diet is actually faeces.
03:01Feed me, Tony!
03:05Yes, you heard me right.
03:07The remora's meal of choice is poop.
03:11But thankfully, the crew know I prefer chocolate brownies.
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