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A dead whale raises two questions: What do we do with it? And how long until it explodes?
Last week, a dead humpback whale washed ashore on Jones Beach in New York, prompting a flurry of attention from news choppers and spectators — including the father of Discovery News Earth producer Michael Reilly, who took the photograph above, of researchers conducting a necropsy. Results of that necropsy suggested that the whale had likely died of blunt force trauma, presumably as a result of being struck by a ship. Alas, that happens more often than you might think, prompting the federal government to impose speed limits on vessels in certain areas at certain times to protect endangered right whales.
When whales die at sea, they generally sink to the bottom, where they form the basis of an extraordinary and unique ecosystem. But when they float ashore, they create a whale of a problem: Disposing of 40 or more tons of decomposing meat and blubber isn't the easiest task in the world.
Continue news.discovery.com/earth/how-to-dispose-of-a-dead-whale-dynamite-optional.html#mkcpgn=emnws1