What Happens to Whales When They Die?

If you've ever caught a whiff of just a few ounces of rotting meat in your fridge, you can imagine the odor that sixteen thousand pounds that's over seven thousand kilos would emit. Before that reason, the task of somehow removing that mountain of flabby flesh was assigned to the Department of Transportation. So how did the agency tackle such

a gargantuan task? The Department of Transportation decided that the most efficient way to dispose of the whale was simply to blow it up, rigging a half of dynamite to the corps. It seemed like a shirt thing that, upon detonation, the whale would instantaneously transform into chunks the size of

fish sticks that would splash harmlessly into the ocean. But it was not their lucky day, While officials and onlookers did witness an enormous explosion, the resulting debris flew toward land instead of sea, showering whale guts on spectators and nearby cars. Nine years later, when forty one dead sperm whales drifted to Oregon shores, no one pulled out the explosives. Instead, officials performed a makeshift cremation by burying and burning the

carcasses over the span of two days. In the case of beached whales, like these, funeral proceedings aren't exactly ceremonious. Carcasses hauled out to see may wash up again, and buried ones can release shark attracting oil. If the area is uninhabited, experts recommend the simplest option and leave the body alone and let nature take its course. The main caveat to that, however, is remembering to slice open the abdomen to avoid a gassy build up inside the whale

that could cause a messy eruption. Yes, deceased beached whales can and do explode all on their own. After the whale dies, Gases, most specifically methane, build up in the stomach and other organs. What usually happens next is that the 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, just keep stretching to accommodate the gas until it reaches a

breaking point. A residence in Taiwan witnessed this cetacean surprise in two thousand four when researchers were transporting a dead sperm whale that suddenly exploded on a city street. This is why it's a good idea to stay away from dead whales. And should you go poking and prodding a methane filled whale, you're giving it ample reason to explode before it has a chance to deflate naturally. You also wouldn't want to fall into a decomposing whale. Do yourself

a favor and pay your respects from a distance. However, though it's always sad to lose one of these majestic and long lived animals, whales that don't wash up to shore when they die actually benefit other ocean inhabitants because it sparks the beginning of new life. When whales die in the ocean, their bodies eventually sink to the bottom, but once the body comes to rest, biologists refer to this as a whale fall. As you might guess, other

fish and sea animals initially eat the meat off the carcass. However, what came as a surprise to ocean researchers was the finding that dead whales support entire ecosystems. In researchers at the University of Hawaii discovered that at least twelve thousand, four hundred and ninety individual organisms representing more than forty three species were living off of a whalefall in the

deep North Pacific Ocean. But some of these sea creatures, which included rare species of clams, worms, and eyeless shrimp, weren't nibbling away at the remains. Instead, the colonies were chemo autotrophic, which means they produce their own food via chemicals. Chemo auto trophy is similar to photosynthesis and plants, except it doesn't require sunlight, which is why it appears in animals in places where the sun's rays don't penetrate the

depths of the water. Further investigation into these novel ecosystems found that bacteria that overtake a whale skeleton feed off of the bones, which consists of six fat. The bacteria then produce hydrogen sulfide. Those thousands of chemo autotrophic sea creatures convert the hydrogen sulfide into usable energy to thrive to reproduce. A few years ago, oceanographers mapped out the

development stages of these underwater phenomena. First comes the mobile scavenger stage, when fish strip around of the tissue from the whale fall. After a few months or years, depending on the size of the whale, marine worms and crustaceans take up residence on and inside the remains, marking the enrichment opportunist stage. Finally, the sulfophilic stage takes place, in which the hydrogen sulfide emitting bacteria are established and helped

nourish chemo auditrific organisms. That last stage will last decades. Similar environments car near cold seeps and hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor, where hydrogen sulfide is released from breaks between the Earth's tectonic plates. To illustrate the unique environment created from whale falls, two new species of worms were identified on a whale carcass living off of the whale

bone and resembling pink glow sticks with streamers. At first, researchers thought that they could only see the females of these newfound species, but they soon realized that the females harbor the males inside of their rudimentary bodies, allowing them to reproduce exponentially the worms attached to the whalefall during the enrichment opportunist stage. By having large numbers of offspring, these worms can propagate throughout the ocean, encountering other whalefalls

and restarting the process. These are only two of at least sixteen new species that oceanographers have identified at whale falls. Today's episode is based on the articles what Happens to Whales When they Die written by Kristen Conger and What makes the Beached Whales Explode written by Kate Kirshner on houstuff works dot com. Brain Stuff is production by Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff Works dot Com and

is produced by Tyler Clang. For more podcasts my Heart Radio, visit the heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. H