At present, 200 stranded whales have died. The reason for the collective stranding of whales is still a mystery. These stranded whales seem to be healthy, without any trauma, and no common signs of disease.

Recently, on the beach in Tasmania, Australia, more than 230 whales were stranded, and a large number of black and shiny pilot whales were stranded on a long beach. Some people covered some pilot whales with blankets and poured sea water on them with buckets to help them survive.

At present, 200 stranded whales have died. The reason for the collective stranding of whales is still a mystery. These stranded whales seem to be healthy, without any trauma, and no common signs of disease.

Why whales are stranded

Scientists have discovered that when we look at the map of the cetacean stranding incident, we will find some significant "death zone", such as the North Sea coast in Europe, and this time Australia's Tasmania . Whales often have stranded accidents. Two years ago, about 470 long-fin pilot whales were stranded on another beach in Tasmania. At that time, rescue teams rescued a total of 108 whales, which was the largest whale stranding incident in Australia's history.

So scientists believe that this may be related to whales' sonar . cetaceans rely on sonar for location and navigation. Acoustic experts have found that many high-incidence areas with similar ocean acoustic characteristics, such as beaches with extremely gentle slopes. In this case, sound waves reflect back and forth between the sea surface and the bottom of the beach, making it difficult for cetaceans to determine the water depth.

Some scientists believe that military sonar disturbed the whales. When they fled to the water quickly, they developed decompression disease , causing stranding death.

In addition, Australian scientists have summarized 639 events between 1920 and 2002 and found an 11-13-year fluctuation cycle, which is very close to the solar activity cycle. The periodic changes in the climate caused by the solar activity cycle - changes in wind direction, sea temperature, ocean currents, such as changes in ocean currents, have diverted the traditional food sources of whales. To do this, they will go to other waters to find food sources, and at this point if they are not in particularly good condition, they may go hungry, which may cause them to take greater risks, go closer to the coast and end up stranding.

Some scientists also believe that is to help similar people. Some whales with strong social nature (such as pilot whales) may be unwilling to leave individual members who have been stranded, which will eventually lead to large-scale stranding of the entire whale group.

whale stranding is very difficult to rescue, and large whale strandings such as are extremely difficult to rescue, which has formed a consensus in the world. Because it is too big, the huge body is difficult to move effectively, and even rashly approaching may pose danger to people. There have been many rescues of large stranded whales around the world, but few have succeeded.

What about small cetaceans? Small Whale is timid and easily stressed, and in severe cases it may even die. On November 10, 2021, an East Asian porpoise accidentally entered the inland river and wandered in the South Tiao River in Yuhang, Hangzhou for many days. Unfortunately, during the transportation of the porpoise, the porpoise eventually died because of fear of severe stress reaction.

whales may produce whale explosions

Of course, these are just speculations. 200 whales die, which is a very headache for Australia, because whale explosions may occur. After abnormal stranding, we must know that whales are not only large in size, but also have a large appetite. After a whale dies, the gastrointestinal tract generally has a lot of food left. The gastrointestinal food and various tissues and organs in the whale's body will rot during the bacterial degradation process, which will produce a large amount of gas. However, the whale's skin and fat are very tough, and the whale's huge throat sac can also withstand a lot of pressure (the whale's throat sac will expand, which is to fill the sea water and force the sea water out to filter food). This also allows the whale's body to carry a huge amount of gas. In addition, the larger the whale's body, the faster the internal tissues and organs rot, the more gas and pressure accumulated in the body - all energy is looking for catharsis outlets,

Therefore, the entire whale's corpse will gradually expand and become larger, becoming like a large balloon full of gas.Once these gases exceed the skin's tolerance range, and the body is exposed to sunlight, the temperature of the epidermis will rise, which is very easy to detonate the flammable and explosive gases in its body. This is whale explosion.

What should ordinary people do when they encounter whale corpses stranded on the beach? Or bury it on the spot, this is the best way, but 200 whales are buried on the spot, which is not very likely. If nothing works, then you can only let the whale corpse rot naturally. However, the stinking smell of whale corpses is considered one of the most unpleasant smells in the world.

So most of the time I choose to remove whale corpses. This is quite challenging because if you are not careful, you will cause a whale explosion.

How scary is the whale explosion? In 2004, an sperm whale stranded on Tainan Beach, Taiwan, China. It is about 17 meters long and weighs more than 50 tons. This "model" is definitely the best among the sperm whales known as the "big beast in the sea".

The local area wanted to use this whale for scientific research, so the relevant units used flatbed trucks, 3 cranes and more than 50 staff members, and it took 13 hours to successfully ship the sperm whale onto the truck.

The corpse of a sperm whale suddenly exploded during transportation. With a loud "bang", countless pieces of fat and several liters of blood exploded from the whale's body. The decay gushed and flew everywhere. The intestines as thick as legs and the corpse of blood and flesh were scattered in every corner of the city, emitting a horrifying stench. The roads, nearby shops, and even vehicles parked on the roadside were all dyed in a fishy red color, and the air was filled with an unbearable stench. The odor like lasted for up to two months and still could not be completely eliminated.

This horror incident spread quickly because there is no precedent for whales to explode in the city. The exploded sperm whale was still shipped to , as planned, and it took 10 days for 60 scientists to complete the dissection.

So the power of whale explosion is very terrifying. How Australia deals with these stranded and dead whales is not an easy task.