For over 20 years, Matt Rockhold was a professional surfer and traveled around the world. Nowadays, he’s still in the water, but as a professional fisherman who shares his love of the ocean with millions of people online. There, he’s The Friendliest Catch, where he’s perhaps best known for helping remove barnacles from crabs he catches before releasing them back into the ocean.
Barnacles are small creatures, but they can have big consequences for some species of ocean life. Crabs are relatively small, and even just a few barnacles add unwanted weight to their bodies. And that’s not all. One species of barnacles, called Sacculina, is parasitic; they grow a rootlike system throughout the crab’s body to feed on it.
Rockhold’s mesmerizing barnacle removals are the ocean equivalent of pimple popping mixed with marine life education. In each video, he presents the viewer with a crab that has many barnacles across its body. Some are large, and others are in inconvenient places, such as near the eyes or leg joints.
In one of his most viral videos, Rockhold shows a crab with two giant barnacles on top of its carapace—and one of the barnacles is moving. He begins by using pliers to pop the smaller barnacles dotting the body, narrating his process all along the way. Rockhold then moves on to the grand finale. It takes him several passes to remove the two large barnacles, but it’s so satisfying to watch the crab clean. Now complete, the fisherman places a fish scrap into its claws and returns it to the ocean.
Watch a selection of Rockhold’s videos below, then follow The Friendliest Catch on TikTok and Instagram to see what’s on his boat next. And if barnacle removal is fascinating to you, see how this marine biologist devoted 92 days to removing barnacles from a sea turtle in pain.
Professional surfer-turned-fisherman Matt Rockhold shares his love of the ocean with millions of people online—often by removing barnacles from crabs.
@friendliestcatch Barnacle De Chronicles #friendliestcatch #asmr #commercialfishing ♬ original sound – Friendliest Catch
@friendliestcatch Barnacle De Chronicles #friendliestcatch #barnaclechronicles ♬ original sound – Friendliest Catch
Known as The Friendliest Catch, his mesmerizing barnacle removals are the ocean equivalent of pimple popping mixed with marine life education.
@friendliestcatch Anemone attached to Crab, symbiotic or not? #anemone #friendliestcatch #barnaclechronicles ♬ original sound – Friendliest Catch
@friendliestcatch Barnacle De Chronicles Continue #asmr #friendliestcatch #barnaclechronicles ♬ original sound – Friendliest Catch
@friendliestcatch Barnacle De Chronicles #asmr #friendliestcatch #barnaclechronicles ♬ original sound – Friendliest Catch
In each video, he presents the viewer with a crab that has many barnacles across its body.
@friendliestcatch Barnacle De Chronicles #asmr #friendliestcatch #barnaclechronicles ♬ original sound – Friendliest Catch
@friendliestcatch Barnacle De Chronicles #barnaclechronicles #friendliestcatch #asmr ♬ original sound – Friendliest Catch
He then uses tools to pop the barnacles and then returns the creature to the ocean with a snack.
@friendliestcatch Barnacle De Chronicles #asmr #friendliestcatch #barnaclechronicles ♬ original sound – Friendliest Catch
@friendliestcatch @Matt Rockhold #asmr #friendliestcatch #barnaclechronicles ♬ original sound – Friendliest Catch
The Friendliest Catch: Instagram | TikTok
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