[PHOTOS] A Dead 60-Tonne Blue Whale Washed Up On Shore
The residents of a town on Canada's Newfoundland island fear a blue whale carcass that washed up on its boardwalk last week could explode at any time.
By Sadho Ram — 30 Apr 2014, 06:27 PM — Updated about 10 years ago
Royal Ontario Museum Will Remove 2 Whale Carcasses That Washed Up Recently
The carcass of a 60-ton blue whale washed up on the shores of Trout River, Newfoundland, last week, a town of around 600 people.
Image via MashableScientists from the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto will remove up to two of the three blue-whale carcasses that have recently washed up on the shore of Newfoundland's west coast, and use the mammals to further scientific research.
mashable.com
It would also take a second, less-famous, but still burdensome blue-whale body that came ashore just up the coast, in the town of Rocky Harbour. The museum wants the skeletons, and plans to send a team of ten people to retrieve them.
newyorker.comLast month, at least nine blue whales were caught in the ice off the southwest coast of Newfoundland and died.
The residents of Newfoundland island previously had fears of a dead sea whale exploding after it washed up on a beach
The town of Trout River is trying to dispose of a blue whale that washed up on a beach after nine of the endangered animals were found dead in the ice off the province's west coast several weeks ago, CBC News reported.
It is a nightmare, the whale, a decaying mass of blubber, baleen and flesh measuring about 25 metres from tip to tail and weighing approximately 80 tonnes
Imagine 30 or so dead elephants appearing on your doorstep, unannounced, and you can imagine what the people in Trout River, a picturesque tourist town in Gros Morne National Park, are thinking. Which, in a word, is: How the hell are we going to get rid of this potentially explosive blue whale before the summer high season begins?
ctvnews.ca
Town Clerk, Emily Butler says the body is bloated with methane gas caused by decomposition and will soon reek, regardless of whether it explodes
“We don’t know what to do,” says Emily Butler, the town manager. “The whale is there on our beach. It has been there since Friday. We are heading into tourist season. I’ve contacted the Coast Guard, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), Environment Canada — and all these departments keep saying that the whale is on municipal property, and so it is the responsibility of the town.”
nationalpost.com
Butler is worried that the carcass could blow up as it has slowly grown bigger. In the meantime, it is emitting a nasty odour and has become an attraction for onlookers who want to witness the rare sight for themselves.
The dead beast is full of diseases, including a strain of dermatitis that causes skin on human hands to crack, break and itch and requires medication to remedy
It is a fine mess. The dead whale, in its present location, smack in town, practically on the doorstep of Trout River’s Fishermen’s Museum and with the world-famous Seaside Restaurant nearby, is turning what was initially a local curiosity into a full-blown crisis.
The whale appears to have bloated beyond twice its normal size. The town, a tourist destination inside Gros Morne National Park on the Canadian island's west coast, has seen a new type of visitor since the whale carcass came ashore.
nationalpost.com
Meanwhile, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has warned of health hazards posed by the decomposing whale
A dead blue whale that is slowly rotting on the beach of the western Newfoundland community of Trout River has the community scrambling to find a way to get rid of it before it explodes. The whale's 25-metre carcass washed into Trout River just over a week ago, and has since been pushed up against the beach
Image via nationalpost.comBesides the various bacteria and viruses a dead whale can carry, some of which are airborne, Lawson, a research scientist with DFO's marine mammals section, expressed concerns about images of people walking up on the bloated throats of the blue whales. He said the decomposition gases causing the swelling could soften the connective tissues of the carcass and someone walking on it could fall into the corpse.
lportepilot.caGiven the size of the whales and the fluids and other hazards that would be inside, Lawson said someone could suffer a rather nasty demise if they fell inside a large, decomposing whale. “I have had the experience of falling up to my waist into a rotten pilot whale before and it’s not very nice,” he said.
ctvnews.ca
The options to getting rid of the carcass includes burying the body in a deep trench nearby or hauling it away to a more remote location
The rotting corpse of a blue whale that washed ashore at Trout River, NL. Local residents are concerned that the bloated carcass, with gas building inside, while explode.
Image via nationalpost.comA dead blue whale washed up on a pristine beach in P.E.I. decades ago. Locals there dug a huge hole to dispose of it, which is one method that might work in Trout River. Other potential solutions include towing it to somewhere more remote, beaching it above the tide line and letting nature take its course.
nationalpost.com
Or else cutting it into smaller pieces, taking tissue samples for research purposes — and hoping for the best. Time, however, is running out. The tourists are coming. Soon. And a bloated whale will only stay bloated for so long before it potentially pops.