There she blows! Residents in Tainan, Taiwan had an involuntary first hand encounter with the mechanisms behind decomposition when a dead sperm whale exploded on the transporter truck carrying it to the city's National Cheng Kung University for a necropsy.
Unfortunately this incident occurred in the middle of a busy city street in the city. It resulted in a shower of whale blood and innards on everything within its immediate vicinity.
The source behind the explosion could be linked to the decomposing organisms that had already begun to do their magic within the decaying whale.
Decomposition is the process that occurs when living matter dies and is broken down into chemical components by bacteria, fungi, molds and a variety of other organisms.
These organisms feeding upon the dead animal will in turn generate their own waste, which is composed of natural gases such as methane, ethane and nitrogen.
Within a small enclosed area, such as the whale's gut, the gasses will accumulate. Pressure will then build as the gases accumulate and decomposition progresses.
In this whale's case, the pressure built up was so great that it tore through the stomach lining, blubber and skin, resulting in a this massive explosion.
The force of the explosion spewed blood and chunks of whale onto nearby cars and shops.
Mess aside, the smell was reported to be tremendous. A Tainan resident remarked to the BBC: "What a stinking mess. This blood and other stuff that blew out on the road is disgusting, and the smell is really awful."
Following the explosion, many residents could be seen wearing face masks attempting to clean up the bloody mess left on their properties.
The 56 foot long whale was found beached on the southwest coast of Taiwan in Yunlin County on January 17, and died before help could arrive.
It took more than 13 hours, three cranes, and 50 workers to move the whale onto the flatbed truck that transported the whale through Tainan.
This was the largest whale ever recorded on the Taiwanese coast.
Sperm whales are known to inhabit both tropical and cool waters. Therefore, it is not unusual to spot one off the Taiwanese coasts.
Of all toothed whales, the Sperm whale is the largest known species.
Its name is derived from the whale's ability to produce valuable oil from the back of its head that is known as spermaceti.
The whale also produces ambergris, a waxy cholesterol derivative that is created in the animal's lower intestinal tract as a byproduct of irritation in the whales' digestive system after eating squid.
Ambergris was once used in the manufacture of perfumes and it was also an exotic spice included in fine wines and foods.
Its popularity increased during historical whaling eras.
Presently, organic ambergris can be synthetically reproduced. This has reduced the number of whaling incidents in which whales were merely hunted for their intestinal lining.
Despite the bloody and ghastly aftermath of the explosion, enough of the whale was intact enough to transport the remaining parts of the carcass to Shi--Tsao National Preserve for a thorough examination of the whale's demise.
However, after being moved to the local preserve, the whale still managed to garner much attention from locals, especially the men.
The cause of this attention was drawn upon the male whale's remarkably large penis, which measured at about an astonishing five feet in length.
