Whales. They are by far the largest animals on earth
The Blue Whale is very likely even the largest animal to have ever lived
That a lot of people have a fascination with whales is therefore not really surprising.
So whenever somewhere a whale is washed up on the shore even if it's dead you can expect that it will attract many bystanders
the chance to safely gaze at one of these giants and
Even inspect them up close is something that people typically don't want to miss out on
but in actuality
it's not as safe as it might seem
At any time an explosive rupture of the whales body
Can spread several tons of internal matter in a fraction of a second at a speed of up to 70 km/h (43mph)
Over 50 meters (160ft) across the beach
especially if someone decides to poke the carcass, tries to move or even climb on it
But what causes this phenomenon?
When a whale dies and the blood circulation and the respiration stop its body has no way of removing
excess carbon dioxide and other waste products
Which causes an acidic environment in the cells
as a result the cells lose their
structural integrity and their membranes rupture, which causes the animal's tissues to break down
additionally bacteria naturally present in the respiratory and gastrointestinal tract start to proliferate
consuming the body's carbohydrates lipids and proteins
This process is referred to as putrefaction and causes organ liquefaction and the accumulation of a variety of gases
like carbon dioxide methane and nitrogen
These gases then build up inside the animal which causes the cadaver to bloat sometimes to twice its original size
At some point when the pressure gets too high
Fluids and gases are forced to escape from natural orifices such as mouth or anus
Sharks can also contribute to the creation of these sorts of weak points
These processes aren't just present in whales
The build-up and subsequent release of gas happens with most animals as they decompose even in humans
But it's usually fairly unspectacular
What makes it so extreme and potentially dangerous in whales simply has to do with their size
More mass means more gas and therefore bigger pressure
additionally a thick layer of blubber beneath the skin
contains the pressure much better and longer than in other animals
So when a whale beaches and no scavengers can create weak points to relieve the pressure
You can sometimes end up with a spectacularly bloated carcass
The whale's own body weight can even cause orifices to close up
Intensifying the problem. At this point a carefully performed controlled release
of the whales Internal pressure by making a shallow slit with a long-handled knife is the best option to avoid an uncontrolled explosion
But even this can be potentially dangerous as shown in a viral video from 2013 where a sperm whale
Exploded in a spectacular fashion while a marine biologist was cutting it open in an attempt to release the pressure inside the carcass
Another notable instance of an exploding whale occurred
in 2004 in Taiwan as another sperm whale exploded
while being transported to a research centre near the southwestern city of Tainan
splattering cars shops and bystanders with blood and guts
But by far the most spectacular whale explosion happened when a large grey whale washed up on the shore of Oregon
in 1970 - although humans have contributed slightly more to that particular explosion
officials from the Oregon State Highway Division
Tasked with removing the carcass were unsure what to do with a giant whale but ultimately decided to simply try to blow it up
a charge of half a ton - 20 cases of dynamite - was selected
even though a military veteran with explosive training warned them that this was far too much
The hope was that the whale would be almost disintegrated
by the explosion and that all small pieces still around after the explosion
would be taken care of by seagulls and other scavengers
But instead the explosion sent hundreds of pieces of whale blubber hundreds of metres into the air
The roughly is 75 bystanders
as well as a news team which were there to film the explosion
quickly had to start running for their lives as it began to rain large chunks of dead whale in a radius of up to
250 meters (820 ft) around the carcass. The veterans brand new car was even hit by a particularly large piece of blubber
Completely destroying it
after the dust had settled
It became clear that the explosion had not only scared away all the seagulls who were supposed to clean things up
But it had also left the remaining chunks far too big for any bird to eat
Which meant that the highway crews had to spend the next few days cleaning up the mess all on their own