A Newfoundland town found a dead blue whale on the shore and are worried about the whale possibly bursting.
The 85-foot blue whale is already stinking up the small town of Trout River, but townsfolk are worried that the whale will burst due to decomposition and methane gas building up inside it, reports The Associated Press. The 60-ton carcass is already quite bloated.
Town clerk, Emily Butler, said, "I'm not sure with the heat and gases that are trapped inside of this mammal if at some point in time it will explode."What makes matters worse is that the whale is beached right by the community boardwalk."
Research scientist Jack Lawson, of Canada's Fisheries Department, says the town doesn't really need to worry. Chances are "very small" the whale carcass will explode.
Butler said that another worry the town has, in addition to how this might negatively affect tourism, is whether the carcass could transmit disease to people who get close for photo opportunities, notes The Telegram.
Trout River officials and federal officials are currently trying to come up with a plan on how to transport the body before it decomposes too much.
Butler said, "We have a number of businesses down on the waterfront there that certainly don't want to be seeing this much longer because of the smell and the safety concern."
image from Facebook via Wildland Tours/Mark R. Tsang
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