"It's very difficult to keep people away, simply because it's not too often that you see a blue whale."So... fear and curiosity... curiosity sufficient to overcome the risk of a sudden spew of the rotten innards of the world's largest creature swollen to twice its normal size.
April 29, 2014
Fear in Canada of an explosion...
... of a whale.
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31 comments:
That's why it was a terrible idea to teach Shamu how to light his farts!
"Last year a sperm whale carcass that washed up on the Faroe Islands exploded as a biologist attempted to dissect it."
Video.
I'm skeptical that the whale will explode if left alone.
1970 in Newport, Oregon.
I'm sure the guy that suggested dynamite was promoted.
The problem could be solved very simply with a rifle from a safe distance. Like lancing a boil I should think.
Died in heavy ice. Global warming could have saved this magnificent creature.
They're wondering if they are going to be hit by a tail of a whale which would be a whale of tale.
Died from excessive ice? The dickens you say! And here I thought global warming meant no more ice. . . .
Got to have a lot of guts.
Harvesting the methane from dead beached whales should be a great source of renewable energy. Can't we give them a couple of hundred million dollars in government grants/loans to develop that?
Human bodies do the same thing if left out in the heat.
Whale fart
The marine equivalent of those new Benghazi emails.
O, how we are drawn to the stench. Withdraw as we might we shall all be showered.
How you can tell the whale was an uncle.
His last words: "Pull my fluke."
A rotten sperm whale is a dread occurenve
I saw a blue whale and calf in the ocean near Santa Cruz island offshore socal about five years ago.
Much safer that way.
I am sorry that the whale died, and that it is going to mess up their beach. But consider the environmental ironies in just this short passage from the article:
The 25m (81ft) whale on Trout River's rocky beach is one of several believed to have died in heavy ice weeks ago.
Town Clerk Emily Butler says the body is bloated with methane gas caused by decomposition and will soon reek, regardless of whether it explodes.
Local and federal authorities disagree which are responsible for its disposal.
Ms Butler said the town of 600 people did not have the resources to deal safely with the carcass, though Canadian officials say it is their responsibility.
She told broadcaster NTV that if the town were to push the whale out to sea, it could pose a hazard to passing ships.
My personal favorite is the danger that the whales pose to the ships.
Oh, silly Anthony! Global warming causes more and less of everything! Sometimes, even, simultaneously. (I mean, DAMN, it's powerful.)
I don't imagine this is funny to the residents, having 100 tons (give or take) of rotting animal near their town. I imagine they'd need at least a pretty powerful Canadian Coast Guard cutter or perhaps some naval vessel to tow the carcass out to sea, then Amichel's solution to let the carcass sink down to where scavangers can have at it.
This is what passes for entertainment on the island of Newfoundland. They'll be talking about this for decades.
So... fear and curiosity... curiosity sufficient to overcome the risk of a sudden spew of the rotten innards of the world's largest creature swollen to twice its normal size.
Sort of like folks watching the administration's Libya policy.
I vote for clearing the area and allowing a marksman to fire away using incendiary rounds. Problem solved, as long as you don't consider thousands of pieces of flaming whale goo a problem.
Seriously, though, couldn't they make some belts and wallets out of the thing?
madAsHell, great video. Two thoughts:
1.) Now we know where Spielberg got the idea for the ending of the Jaws movie.
2.) The Oregon state workers who did this obviously went on to be the ones who created that state's Obamacare Health Insurance Exchange.
The "explosion" concern seems pretty silly to me. Even in the video, it didn't look that bad. I wouldn't want to get covered with it, but it seems very unlikely to hurt anyone. Just use a lance on the end of a long pole.
Heck, even when a blue whale is alive its fart-bubbles are plenty big enough to enclose one of Budweiser's Clydesdales.
This guy could be the champion member of the "blue angels" fart-lighting club ...
Is methane a greenhouse gas? 'Cause if it is, we have a whale killed by global warming (which caused the heavy ice) that will contribute to further global warming when it explodes.
OR, if methane is NOT a greenhouse gas, then the carcass can be tapped as a new energy source for the little village in Newfoundland. In fact, whales could be our next renewable energy source. (I seem to recall reading that whales used to be used for energy production. Beware of the white ones, though.)
If anyone doubts how bad this can turn out just needs to remember what happened to Mr. Creosote.
When whale corpses sink to the bottom of the sea, if the depth is in the right range they create an entirely new ecosystem known as a "whalefall." In some cases a whalefall can last for many years.
Peter
Tie a cable to its tail. Wait for the tide to come in and haul it out to sea where it can wash up in the next inlet.
Ta-daa A traveling side show. Believe me. Other than satellite TV and screwing their relatives there isn't a lot of entertainment up there.
Are they worried about this Problems
Pamela, the 1970 whale was exploded by the Federal Government of the United States. Demonstrating once more that any problem that exists in this great country can be made worse and spread over a greater extent of the nation by the involvement of the experts from Washington.
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