A huge dead whale rotting on an island Down Under attracts locals and even thieves, but the rancid smell of the decomposing corpse keeps many of them at bay. One man who took a look at the whale said the rotting mud ruined his sneakers, and others have noted that they could smell the foul-smelling stench even from a distance of three miles, according to news sources.
Pathogens on the rotting body of the whale are another reason to stay out of the area, the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) in Gippsland, Australia, said. Basically, people should stay away from the beach, especially since hungry sharks can swim nearby, hoping to take a bite from the 52-foot-long (16-meter) sperm whale, the department said.
Whale carcasses are often a problem when they wash up, as gases that build up in their decaying bodies can lead to nasty explosions. Sometimes local authorities pre-emptively blow up dead whales, as they did to a sperm whale in 1970 in the now appropriately named “Exploding Whale Memorial Park, “in Oregon, a decision they soon regretted.
“The humor of the situation suddenly gave way to a flight for survival, as huge chunks of whale blubber fell everywhere,” said Paul Linnman, a reporter who reported on the explosion. said at the time“Pieces of meat flew high above our heads, while others fell at our feet.”
Related: Whale photos: giants of the deep
In this case, a sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) – the world’s largest toothed whale – washed up on the beach at Forrest Caves, a popular scenic destination on Phillip Island in southern Australia on March 6, DELWP Gippsland reported in a Facebook post
The female whale’s final resting place on the beach is difficult to reach with a machine or vehicle large enough to move the animal, so “the whale will remain in place and not be removed,” wrote DELWP Gippsland.
The department added that it is illegal for humans and their dogs to come within 300 meters of a whale, even if they are dead. It’s also illegal to bring or possess dead whale parts, they said. But that doesn’t stop determined thieves from using the night’s cover to steal parts of the whale’s jaw, The Guardian reported
Even after death, the whale helps scientists learn more about the behavior and biology of sperm whales. Researchers took tissue samples, DELWP reported. Meanwhile, “sucker marks” on the whale’s side indicate that the beast was struggling with a giant squid, Mike Cleeland, an education officer at Bunurong Environment Center in Inverloch, Australia, told Gippsland ABC Radio.
Like another stranded sperm whale he saw in Australia in the 1980s, this whale “had these spurs to about four inches. [4 inches] diameter, “said Cleeland, as reported by the Sentinel-Times“These sperm whales dive up to a kilometer [0.6 miles] or more in depth to feed on the giant squid, but when they get to a squid and the squid tries to defend itself by wrapping around the sperm whale, they end up with these suction cups – and that was evident on this one at Forrest Caves . “
However, it is not known what actually killed the whale. “There is no clear cause of death, so it may have just reached the end of its natural life and washed up on the nearest beach here on Phillip Island,” Cleeland said.
Another dead whale, a 16-foot-long (5 m) humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) was found offshore in Port Phillip Bay, not far from Phillip Island, and “plans are underway to relocate the whale tomorrow”, DELWP Victoria wrote on Twitter on March 11.
A deceased humpback whale about 5 meters long has been found offshore near Mount Martha in Port Phillip Bay. There are plans to relocate the whale tomorrow. Please avoid the area. For information, visit: https://t.co/5gNqgJxhWs pic.twitter.com/leR7q6Q4xlMarch 11, 2021
Originally published on Live Science.