On Monday, November 27, 2000 12:53 AM, Chris B. McKinney wrote:

> I was down on the coast last week and welcomed the chance to get
> wet.
(snip)
> At one point a 12-inch remora or sharksucker became interested in
> me, circling me at about a two-foot distance.  First I wondered
> if he mistook me for some kind of whale (it wouldn't be hard),
> then I wondered if he had a toothy host nearby (but didn't see
> one).  When recounting this part later I found that most people
> thought of this faster than I did at the time.

I, too, have always considered that free-swimming remoras were merely taking
a 'coffee break' away from some large host.  On our recent trip we spotted a
few that seemed to be in search of something to latch onto.  It was a
perfect opportunity to look really closely at the 'sucker' pad on top of
their heads.  Fascinating little critters, ain't they?  :-)

Chris.  Thanks for an interesting report.  (And if you find out the name of
the little mauve thingies let us know!)  :-)

Strike