This is an older article from the Guardian in September 2022
GUARDIAN : ENVIRONMENT : WHALE STRANDINGS : WHAT HAPPENS TO DEAD WHALE BODIES?
Excerpt: Two mass strandings in Tasmanian waters in a week has left about 200 pilot whales and 14 sperm whales dead. ... In warmer climates, the internal decomposition of dead whales can result in spontaneous explosions. Gut bacteria in the whales can multiply quickly, producing large quantities of methane gas. “If the rest of the body is still intact – if the outer layer, the blubber, is still intact and not broken up – then it can lead to an explosion,” Meynecke said.
In 2004, the decomposing carcass of a 60-tonne, 17-metre sperm whale expoded on a busy streetin the Taiwanese city of Tainan, “showering cars and shops with blood and organs and stopping traffic for hours”. ...
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Check out the video of the whale stomach exploding! Ewwwe!
A CURATED COLLECTION OF SCIENCE FACTS AND DELICIOUS FICTIONS !
Showing posts with label Pilot Whales. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pilot Whales. Show all posts
11/18/20
AUSTRALIA'S LARGEST MASS STRANDING - PILOT WHALES - 500 ESTIMATE OFF TASMANIA
This happened several weeks ago. Rescuers tried to save the pilot whales. The bodies of dead whales present a problem for the harbor.
Excerpt: "Unfortunately, they do have a very strong social system, and these animals are very closely bonded. And that's why we have seen so many in this case unfortunately end up in this situation," Pirotta said.
And even when a whale is freed, its fate remains in jeopardy.
"They are wanting to return back to the pod. They might hear the acoustics of the vocalizations of the sounds that the others are making, or they're just disoriented and in this case extremely stressed and just probably so fatigued that they in some cases don't know where they are," she said.
2/4/12
PILOT WHALES BEACHED ON FAREWELL SPIT NEW ZEALAND
Farewell Spit is another New Zealand Beach where whales, this time 99 of them, beached themselves. This is the news as of January 26th, written by Dominique Schwartz, of ABC news.
The animals are being put down (euthanized) because rescuers cannot get them to move. About 17 of them made it back to the sea. 33 of them tried but re-beached themselves elsewhere.
The animals are being put down (euthanized) because rescuers cannot get them to move. About 17 of them made it back to the sea. 33 of them tried but re-beached themselves elsewhere.
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