Fears rotting blue whale carcass washed up on Canadian shore could burst

DON’T stand too close. Residents fear a 60,000kg whale that washed up near the boardwalk on a small Canadian town will blow up at any moment.

Explosion fears ... locals are worried this 60,000kg whale carcass beached on Canada’s east coast could burst any minute. Picture: Twitter

RESIDENTS of a small Canadian town are worried a dead 60,000kg whale that washed up on a boardwalk could explode any minute.

Town clerk Emily Butler said the rotting 25-metre blue whale is emitting a powerful stench which is spreading through the 600-strong village of Trout River.

She said she and other locals fear the build-up of methane gas caused by decomposition could cause the enormous mammal to burst.

“We have a concern ... because 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,” she told The Independent.

News_Image_File: It stinks! ... locals say the 25m-long blue whale is emitting a powerful stench as it rots on the shore. Picture: Twitter

Butler said she’s asked fisheries officials for help to move the giant whale, which is one of three beached along Newfoundland’s coast.

She said local fishermen don’t have the skills or expertise to tow such a large mammal out to sea.

Jack Lawson, a research scientist with Canada’s fisheries department, said the risk of an explosion is “very small”, but recommended people stay away from the decomposing creature.

“At some point, the skin of the animal will lose some of its integrity as all of the connective tissue starts to break down,” he said.

“Eventually, that gas will seep out ... It will just deflate like an old balloon.”

He said he was aware of very graphic YouTube videos showing a bloated, beached sperm whale exploding after a biologist cuts into it — but said that’s unlikely to happen with the Trout River whale.

News_Rich_Media: Fears blue whale might explode