Why do whales explode?

When a dead whale is run aground on the beach, the countdown is activated, late or early, if not acted correctly, the whale will explode, but why do the whales explode when they die? In this article of Animals and Pets Online we will explain the reason for this fact, although many readers may find it somewhat unpleasant.

Strandings of whales

It is common to see news about whales or other cetaceans stranded on the beaches.Unfortunately, a large number of them die because they fail to return to the water , even if the human being tries to help.Their sensitive skin and the weight they support are not able to withstand the environmental conditions outside the water.

The reasons why stranding occurs, whether massive and individual, are still being studied.

They can occur for behavioral reasons, such as when seek refuge on the shore fleeing from some danger in the open sea.Bad weather conditions can also attract cetaceans to In addition, sick individuals can separate themselves from their herd and end up stranded on the coast.

Despite all these causes that, we might consider "natural," there is an anthropological reason, the sound that provoke ships in the oceans can create interference at the sound of whales, causing disorientation and subsequent stranding.

Why do dead whales explode?

Even if an animal dies, part of its body continues to live.This is the case of the digestive system .Both in the stomach and in the intestines, a microbial reproduction linked to the decomposition of the body that produces, among other wastes, gases, such as methane or hydrogen sulfide .

Whales that are stranded on the beaches and, finally, end up dying may seem that are swelling and, so it is.The corpse will begin to swell due to the gases produced by the rot of the body.These gases come, initially, from the bacterial activity characteristic of the natural intestinal flora of the whale.

This bacterial activity that occurs after death can be very variable because it depends on many factors such as the type of bacteria involved in the process, the cause of death of the whale, pre and postmortem lesions, the type of food found in e The stomach and the amount, likewise, will also be affected by the environmental conditions surrounding the whale.

Bacterial activity and the rate of rot slow down with the decrease in temperature, something that would occur inside the water but, on a beach, with hot temperatures, the decomposition and production of gases would increase considerably.

When the swollen body of a whale suffers a mechanical stress, such as those that could produce a crane when trying to remove a corpse from the beach, gases and liquids exert pressure against the body wall and can explode, expelling all the rotten content .

Famous Whale Explosions

In recent history there have been explosions of whales stranded on different coasts of the world.Here we show you some famous cases.

On a beach in Oregon, United States, in 1970 , an exemplary sperm whale between 40 and 65 tons of weight, was stranded on the shore.The local government wanted to remove the corpse from the beach but, due to the weight, it seemed an impossible task.Yes, the State decided to place dynamite next to the body , make it explode into very small pieces and that the carron animals acted by cleaning the area.Finally, the amount of dynamite used was not enough, it only destroyed part of the animal that, inflated with gases, spread a layer of rotten tissues throughout the beach.[1]

In 2004, in Taiwan, a whale that had been found stranded and killed exploded in the middle of the city while it was transferred to a research center.The explosion was caused by gases accumulated inside the animal and der blows Transportation taxes.Many passers-by, cars and shop windows were covered with decaying remains.[2]

A stranding of some 400 pilot whales ( Globicephala spp.) in New Zealand, in 2017, kept in vilo to the entire population for fear of the explosions of the bodies.More than 200 individuals were returned to the ocean.Those who died, had an incision in the stomach to prevent the accumulation of gases.Then they were buried in some nearby dunes, not open to the public.

If you want to read more articles similar to Why do whales explode? , we recommend that you enter our Curiosities section of the animal world.

References

Bibliography

Cordes, DO2015.The causes of whale strandings.New Zealand Veterinary Journal, 30 (3): 21-24.
Reisdorf, AG, Bux, R., Wyler, D., Bene, M., Klug, C., Maisch, MW, Fornaro, P.and, Wetzel, A.2012.Float , explode or sink: postmortem fate of lung-breathing marine vertebr Palaeobio Palaeoenv 92: 67-81.
Smeenk, C.1997.Strandings ofsperm whales Physeter macrocephalus in the North Sea: history and patterns.Bulletin de l'institut royal des sciences naturelles de belgique biologie, 67: 15-28.

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