Sperm whale is a kind of animal that everyone is more familiar with, we often say "ambergris" is actually a dried product of sperm whale intestinal secretions, these "ambergris" is not only a valuable spice, but also a valuable Chinese medicine. The sperm whale has a special shape, for example, its head is very large, with the largest brain in the world's animal kingdom, but in contrast, the sperm whale's tail is small and light, making the sperm whale look like a large tadpole.
Sperm whales are found in a very wide range, and sperm whales can be seen in almost all marine areas. Although sperm whales live in the ocean, they do not breathe like fish, but with their lungs, because sperm whales are mammals, and they are the mammals that have been diving for the longest time and the mammals that have divened the deepest. So sperm whales are so special that they can be easily identifiable at a glance.
Like other whales, sperm whales are quite large, male sperm whales can reach 11-20 meters in length, while female sperm whales are relatively small, but they can also reach 8.2 meters to 18 meters in length, adult sperm whales can weigh 25 tons to 45 tons, and even newborn sperm whale pups can reach 4 meters in length and 0.5 tons in weight. It is precisely because of the weight and length of sperm whales that when these sperm whales are stranded on the beach, it is difficult for us to successfully rescue them.
Sperm whale carcasses were washed up on the shore
On Rabbit Island, near Nelson, New Zealand, a 17-metre-long sperm whale carcass was washed up on the beach, said Chris Goldin, operations manager at New Zealand's Ministry of Conservation, a male adult sperm whale that was spotted Wednesday morning when it was found dead. As for the cause of death of this sperm whale, the current view is that it may have died of natural causes. After the discovery of the sperm whale carcass, New Zealand's Department of Environment and Environmental Protection advised the public to stay away from the sperm whale carcass and not to touch its carcass.
This is not the first time that a sperm whale has run aground on Rabbit Island, and Liz Sloten, a professor in the Department of Zoology at the University of Otago, said that there had been a sperm whale stranded on Rabbit Island before, and after a few years, now the second sperm whale has run aground on Rabbit Island, which is a very unusual situation, because sperm whales are good at deep diving and like to live in deep waters, such as in deep seas thousands of meters or even deeper, so it seems unusual for these sperm whales to run on the beach.
Of course, there are many reasons why the sperm whale ran aground on the beach, for example, the sperm whale stranded on Rabbit Island should have died at sea before, and its body was washed away by the sea water to the beach. Of course, it is also possible that the sperm whale encountered some trouble or problem, causing it to run aground on the beach and then die due to lack of water and other reasons.
How terrifying it would be if a whale burst occurred
If the average marine life is stranded on the beach, it is still relatively easy for us to rescue, because most marine organisms are relatively small, and it is not difficult to send these small animals back to the sea. And once these whales run aground on the beach, it is very difficult to send them back to sea.
On the one hand, these whales generally weigh tens of tons, and when stranded on the beach, we can't use large machinery to transport them back to sea. On the other hand, when whales are stranded on the beach, if the body is not straightened, it may suffocate to death, and it is quite difficult to straighten the body of a whale weighing dozens of tons so that the whale's breathing hole is facing upwards. Most importantly, whales have the buoyancy of the sea water to support their huge bodies in the depths of the ocean, but when they are stranded on the beach, the weight of tens of tons is borne by their abdominal cavity, and after a long time stranded on the beach, the whale's internal organs and bones may be seriously damaged by the huge weight pressure. So it's hard to rescue stranded whales, and once they're dead on the beach, we can't just walk close to their carcasses because if a whale explosion happens it's scary.
Because whales die, the food residue in the digestive tract of their bodies will continue to ferment and undergo chemical reactions in an oxygen-free environment, and this process will produce a large amount of gas. At the same time, the digestive organs in the whale's body will also rot, which will also emit a lot of gas. When the gas in the whale's body is more and more, the pressure in the body will be greater and greater, when the expansion to a certain extent, the whale explosion will occur, the rotting internal organs in the whale's body will be splashed out, and the surrounding area is suddenly full of stench, which is difficult to clean up and may last for several months. On January 26, 2004, a 50-ton sperm whale carcass weighing 17 meters in length exploded during transport, and the whale's internal organs and blood were instantly scattered on the ground, and the smell was stinking.
So, when whales run aground on the beach, we need to do not only how to rescue stranded whales so that they can return to the sea early, but also need to make plans to prevent whale explosions. Because it is very difficult to rescue stranded whales and the success rate is relatively low, many whales cannot safely return to the sea after running aground. Once the whale dies, it is necessary to find a way to solve the risk of whale explosion, generally in the thickest part of the whale's skin and muscles to choose some of the places with the least pressure to open a small hole for venting, that is, to release the gas produced in the abdominal cavity of the whale's body, reduce the pressure in the whale's body, so that the threat of whale explosion can be solved. Of course, if the operation is improper, or if the opening is selected in the wrong position, it may directly "detonate" the whale.