Why Do Beached Whales Explode Sometimes?

It's best to give deceased beached whales a respectful amount of space because they can explode. Learn how it works in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://animals.howstuffworks.com/mammals/beached-whales-explode.htm

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey, brain Stuff,
Lauren Vogelbam. Here just a heads up. This one gets
a little bit gross because we are talking about how
as some unlucky seaside towns have come to realize, disposing
of a deceased beached whale is more complex than simply

(00:22):
shoving it back in the ocean like some giant goldfish
flushed down an equally massive drain. The first to consider
is if the gigantic beast is going to explode. While
the idea might smell fishy a pun intended. Sorry, it's
totally true. Beached whales can and do explode, although not

(00:43):
very many of them will explode without a little help.
So let's take a moment to pinch our noses and
discuss those conditions. What on Earth, or at least what
in a whale could cause a mammalion corpse to explode.
The short answer is a bad case of gas. After

(01:04):
a whale dies, or after anything dies for that matter,
gases and most specifically methane build up in the stomach
and other organs. That's because bacterias are eating the dead
body from the inside and they excrete gases like methane.
This is, to be fair, an important part of the
natural decomposition process. Now, what usually happens next is that

(01:29):
the body's skin begins to disintegrate, at which point the
whale deflates slowly as the gas seeps out, but occasionally,
very occasionally, the skin of the whale, which is quite tough,
keeps stretching to accommodate the gas until it reaches a
breaking point, at which point cobluey, which brings us to

(01:51):
a word of warning. This process is unpredictable at best
and hazardous at worst. It's best to stay away from
dead whales, and not just because of the smell. If
you should poke or prod a methane filled whale, you're
giving it ample reason to explode before it has a
chance to deflate naturally, even if you're not messing with it.

(02:12):
Remember that it could burst open at any time. Should
you be too close to it. When it releases, you
might find yourself chest deep in liquefied innerds. It might
even require a rescue, So do yourself a favor and
pay your respects from a distance. By the way, if
this is making you a little nervous about your own

(02:32):
potentially explosive afterlife. You have good reason. As I said earlier,
other animals, including humans, also produce gases after death. But
our only explosion risk comes from a casket too tightly
sealed that wouldn't allow for any circulation. Too much gas
build up, and you have an exploding casket on your

(02:53):
hands and possibly your hair and clothes and shoes. Today's
episode is based on the article what makes beached whales
Explode on how stuffworks dot Com, written by Kate Kershner.
Brain Stuff is production by Heart Radio in partnership with
HowStuffWorks dot Com and is produced by Tyler Klang. Four

(03:14):
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