Flexi Says: Although whales don't typically explode after death, there have been several documented cases of beached whale carcass explosions that have generated a lot of attention. These cases include both intentional explosions in which people planted explosives in the whale carcass and naturally caused explosions due to the buildup of gases inside the carcass. Whales that die at sea fall to the bottom and provide an important food source for many bottom-dwelling animals.
Occasionally, whales swim up onto a beach and die. This can be difficult for local authorities to deal with if the whale cannot be moved back into the ocean. A beached whale can take months or even up to a year to fully decompose. It emits a terrible smell and attracts a variety of decomposers. In 1970, authorities in Florence, Oregon decided to use explosives to try and break down a beached whale carcass into smaller pieces that they assumed would be quickly carried away by seagulls. However, the explosion scared the birds away from the area and rained down whale fat on crowds of observers. The experiment was not repeated and beached whale carcasses are now typically buried if they cannot be moved out to sea. In 2004, there was a documented case of a beached whale naturally exploding in Taiwan due to the pressure of gases that became trapped inside the carcass.
