At around 9:07 on April 29, a Taizhou Linhai-registered fishing boat discovered a whale carcass in the waters near Shipu, Ningbo. According to the crew, the whale was very large and smelly and may have been dead for some time.
And based on the size of the whale carcass, time of death, stranding location and other factors, this whale is likely to be the sperm whale that was rescued before. On April 19, a whale that was more than 19 meters long and weighed 40 tons The sperm whale stranded in the waters of Xiangshan County, Ningbo, and was successfully released into the sea after more than 20 hours of rescue.
There are very few cases of successful rescue of large sperm whales. This is also the first time that a large sperm whale has been successfully rescued in China. However, experts warned at the time that the stranded whale would be fine only if it no longer stranded in the next few days after being rescued.
The reasons for whale stranding are very complicated. Although there is no unified conclusion at present, the scientific community believes that the main influencing factor is that the whale's own disease causes the echolocation system to malfunction, resulting in incorrect position judgment.
Therefore, after a stranded whale is released into the sea, it is likely to become stranded again for the same reason. The whale carcass found in Ningbo this time is very similar to the one that was rescued previously in terms of size, time and place of discovery. The sperm whale that was released ten days ago is likely to be stranded again.
1. About Sperm Whales
There are about 50 species of whales in the world. Sperm whales are one of them, and they are also the largest among toothed whales. Adult male sperm whales can reach a maximum length of more than 20 meters and a weight of more than 80 tons. The sperm whale rescued by Xiangshan was a mature male sperm whale. The sperm whale is very easy to identify because of its large square head. The head of the sperm whale is very large, accounting for about one-third of the entire body length, so its Latin name almost means "big-headed whale".
In addition to the brain, its big head also contains a very large amount of a special substance called "scephalus oil". A sperm whale contains almost 1,000 liters of spermaceti oil. Spermacet oil is an excellent fuel and chemical raw material, so this has become one of the reasons why they are hunted in large numbers. In the past, some poachers hunted sperm whales in order to obtain large amounts of spermaceti oil.
The digestive system of a sperm whale is somewhat similar to that of a cow on land, and it also has four stomachs. The first stomach is responsible for grinding food into small pieces; after the ground food enters the second stomach, it will be further digested by the enzymes of gastric acid; the third stomach will wrap the food with a mucous membrane to prevent Food cuts the stomach wall; the fourth stomach is responsible for storing food and completely digesting it before sending it to the intestines.
Although sperm whales are huge carnivores, their fighting power is not strong. On the one hand, this is because their heads are too big and square, making them unsuitable for fighting; on the other hand, because sperm whales mainly feed on cuttlefish, squid and other foods, they are not aggressive towards most other marine creatures.
2, will it be a whale explosion?
The whale was already smelling bad when it was found, indicating it had been dead for some time. Animals will go through a putrefaction process after death. Microorganisms and putrefactive bacteria will produce a large amount of gases during the decomposition of the corpse. These gases are mainly hydrogen sulfide, methane, cadaver ammonia, etc., which are very unpleasant.
Because whales often move in the depths of the ocean, their epidermis has strong resistance to pressure, which allows their bodies to produce a large amount of putrefactive gases without easily exploding. As the whale's death event progresses, more and more putrefactive gases are contained in the body, and the air pressure increases. When the skin cannot bear it, an explosion will occur. This is the mechanism of whale explosion.
The scene of the whale explosion can be imagined. The corrupted substances in the body were scattered everywhere with the explosion, and the stench of corrupted substances would be everywhere on the scene. In 2004, a horrific whale explosion occurred in Taiwan Province of my country.
At that time, a dead sperm whale was found on the coast of Taixi Township, Yunlin County. It was 17 meters long and weighed 50 tons.
At around 9:07 on April 29, a Taizhou Linhai-registered fishing boat discovered a whale carcass in the waters near Shipu, Ningbo. According to the crew, the whale was very large and smelly and may have been dead for some time.
And based on the size of the whale carcass, time of death, stranding location and other factors, this whale is likely to be the sperm whale that was rescued before. On April 19, a whale that was more than 19 meters long and weighed 40 tons The sperm whale stranded in the waters of Xiangshan County, Ningbo, and was successfully released into the sea after more than 20 hours of rescue.
There are very few cases of successful rescue of large sperm whales. This is also the first time that a large sperm whale has been successfully rescued in China. However, experts warned at the time that the stranded whale would be fine only if it no longer stranded in the next few days after being rescued.
The reasons for whale stranding are very complicated. Although there is no unified conclusion at present, the scientific community believes that the main influencing factor is that the whale's own disease causes the echolocation system to malfunction, resulting in incorrect position judgment.
Therefore, after a stranded whale is released into the sea, it is likely to become stranded again for the same reason. The whale carcass found in Ningbo this time is very similar to the one that was rescued previously in terms of size, time and place of discovery. The sperm whale that was released ten days ago is likely to be stranded again.
1. About Sperm Whales
There are about 50 species of whales in the world. Sperm whales are one of them, and they are also the largest among toothed whales. Adult male sperm whales can reach a maximum length of more than 20 meters and a weight of more than 80 tons. The sperm whale rescued by Xiangshan was a mature male sperm whale. The sperm whale is very easy to identify because of its large square head. The head of the sperm whale is very large, accounting for about one-third of the entire body length, so its Latin name almost means "big-headed whale".
In addition to the brain, its big head also contains a very large amount of a special substance called "scephalus oil". A sperm whale contains almost 1,000 liters of spermaceti oil. Spermacet oil is an excellent fuel and chemical raw material, so this has become one of the reasons why they are hunted in large numbers. In the past, some poachers hunted sperm whales in order to obtain large amounts of spermaceti oil.
The digestive system of a sperm whale is somewhat similar to that of a cow on land, and it also has four stomachs. The first stomach is responsible for grinding food into small pieces; after the ground food enters the second stomach, it will be further digested by the enzymes of gastric acid; the third stomach will wrap the food with a mucous membrane to prevent Food cuts the stomach wall; the fourth stomach is responsible for storing food and completely digesting it before sending it to the intestines.
Although sperm whales are huge carnivores, their fighting power is not strong. On the one hand, this is because their heads are too big and square, making them unsuitable for fighting; on the other hand, because sperm whales mainly feed on cuttlefish, squid and other foods, they are not aggressive towards most other marine creatures.
2, will it be a whale explosion?
The whale was already smelling bad when it was found, indicating it had been dead for some time. Animals will go through a putrefaction process after death. Microorganisms and putrefactive bacteria will produce a large amount of gases during the decomposition of the corpse. These gases are mainly hydrogen sulfide, methane, cadaver ammonia, etc., which are very unpleasant.
Because whales often move in the depths of the ocean, their epidermis has strong resistance to pressure, which allows their bodies to produce a large amount of putrefactive gases without easily exploding. As the whale's death event progresses, more and more putrefactive gases are contained in the body, and the air pressure increases. When the skin cannot bear it, an explosion will occur. This is the mechanism of whale explosion.
The scene of the whale explosion can be imagined. The corrupted substances in the body were scattered everywhere with the explosion, and the stench of corrupted substances would be everywhere on the scene. In 2004, a horrific whale explosion occurred in Taiwan Province of my country.
At that time, a dead sperm whale was found on the coast of Taixi Township, Yunlin County. It was 17 meters long and weighed 50 tons.Scientists transported the whale in order to make it a specimen. Unexpectedly, a terrible whale explosion occurred during transportation, and the location of the whale explosion happened to be in the downtown area.
You can imagine the scene. The whale's rotten tissues, internal organs, intestinal contents, etc. all burst out of the body, causing nearby houses, vehicles, pedestrians, etc. to all be stained with the whale's body tissue. It is said that after the whale explosion, the stench left at the scene took several months to completely dissipate, and some people even needed to see a psychiatrist to recover.
So will this whale explode again? According to the description of the crew who discovered the whale, the sperm whale was smelly, which indicated that it had become putrid and the putrefactive gases in its body began to escape. Then as time goes by, corruption will become more and more serious, and the possibility of a whale explosion cannot be ruled out.
However, this sperm whale is still floating in the sea, so it may have another ending after the whale dies - whale falls into !
Whale carcasses floating on the sea surface will attract the attention of some scavengers, such as scavenging sharks, which will eat most of the whale's tissues and internal organs. Then before the whale explosion occurs, the scavenging sharks have already bitten the whale's skin, causing the putrefactive gas inside to diffuse out, and the whale explosion will not occur.
"When a whale falls, everything lives!" After the scavenging sharks eat most of the whale's tissues, the whale's remains begin to sink into the ocean. During the entire sinking process, they will be eaten by various marine life, even if only one remains. Along with the bones, various marine organisms will absorb the last bit of nutrients. The process of whale fall can last from 4 to 24 months, supporting thousands of marine organisms.
Therefore, if the sperm whale carcass found in Ningbo floats to the shore, it is likely to explode as the decay continues to worsen; but if it continues to float at sea, the possibility of a whale crash will be greater. But in either case, don't get close to a smelly whale carcass.
3. Will there be ambergris ?
I believe many friends will think of ambergris when they hear sperm whale. Ambergris comes from the body of sperm whale. It can not only be used to prepare perfume, but it is also a very precious traditional Chinese medicine. The local chronicle of the Southern Song Dynasty "Lingwai Daida" has a record: "There are many dragons in the Western Sea who eat a lot. When I sleep on a stone, the saliva floats on the water and accumulates and becomes solid. The sharks explore it and think it is a treasure."
Ambergris is actually the "poop" of sperm whales. Sperm whales mainly feed on various types of cuttlefish and squid. Their meat is easy to digest, but their bones are very hard, which makes the digestive system of sperm whales helpless.
Although most of the undigested substances are spit out by the sperm whale, some of them always enter the sperm whale's intestines and cannot be spit out or expelled. So the sperm whale's intestines secrete some special substances to wrap these hard lumps, and together with the action of some microorganisms, a " fecal stone " will eventually be formed, which is ambergris.
However, not all sperm whales have ambergris in their bodies. Only less than 1% of sperm whales will have ambergris in their bodies. And the older the sperm whale, the greater the possibility of ambergris. As for whether there is ambergris in this sperm whale, it is currently impossible to tell until it floats ashore and is dissected.
Of course, if the sperm whale continues to float at sea, the remains will have to be eaten clean by marine life, and the ambergris in the body (if any) will float on the ocean surface due to its low density. If the ambergris drifts to the shore, it is likely to be picked up by a lucky person by chance, which can be a huge fortune.
4, Conclusion
At present, a lot of information about the sperm whale carcass is just speculation. Judging from the size, time and place of death, it is indeed reminiscent of the sperm whale that was rescued in Xiangshan.
However, we marked the sperm whale that was stranded and successfully rescued last time, and the remains of the sperm whale found this time are floating in the sea. It is currently impossible to confirm whether the two are the same sperm whale.
Although the whale remains were already stinking when they were found, and there is a possibility of a whale explosion at any time, it is floating in the sea and may be eaten by marine life to avoid a whale explosion. It is unknown whether a whale crash will occur.
As for whether there will be ambergris in its body, it is even more impossible to speculate, because the probability of ambergris appearing in a sperm whale is very low. Only after the sperm whale floats to the shore and is dissected can we determine whether there is ambergris.
#Zhejiang rescued whale may still be dead# #A sperm whale carcass was found in Zhejiang, or it may have been stranded in Xiangshan# #Taizhou fishing boat found a sperm whale carcass#
Although the whale remains were already stinking when they were found, and there is a possibility of a whale explosion at any time, it is floating in the sea and may be eaten by marine life to avoid a whale explosion. It is unknown whether a whale crash will occur.
As for whether there will be ambergris in its body, it is even more impossible to speculate, because the probability of ambergris appearing in a sperm whale is very low. Only after the sperm whale floats to the shore and is dissected can we determine whether there is ambergris.
#Zhejiang rescued whale may still be dead# #A sperm whale carcass was found in Zhejiang, or it may have been stranded in Xiangshan# #Taizhou fishing boat found a sperm whale carcass#
