In order to see this embed, you must give consent to Social Media cookies. Open my cookie preferences. As the post mortem begins, the whale in Skegness has been exploding. As you can imagine, its pretty disgusting.... pic.twitter.com/Uhj7B1bHl0 — BBC Radio Lincolnshire (@BBCRadioLincs) January 25, 2016

It's not been a good weekend for whales. Four sperm whales have now washed up on the east coast of England, with a potential sighting of a fifth stranded whale a few miles away. Earlier in the year, twelve sperm whales washed up on the Dutch island of Texel, although it's not yet known whether the two groups are linked. What we do know, though, is that they keep exploding.

A brief history of the beached whale

Beaching isn't just a whale-related phenomenon -- every year, around 2000 animals beach themselves. Nevertheless, the whale is the most likely animal to beach itself. There's no one explanation for why whales beach themselves with such frequency, but experts have several theories:


Natural strandings

2000: number of animals who beach themselves every year KeepInline

Natural strandings are related to natural phenomena such as weather, weakness, hunting too close to shore or navigation errors. A 2004 study from the University of Tasmania found that when water rich in squid flows north, whales follow their prey closer to land, where they are unable to navigate.

Read next How CRISPR is helping scientists create a better coronavirus test How CRISPR is helping scientists create a better coronavirus test

'Follow Me' Strandings

A major factor in many beachings seems to be the whale's propensity to follow pods and prey -- if one whale expresses distress, the rest of the pod may follow and become beached. Similarly, some beachings appear to be caused by whales following dolphins or porpoises into too-shallow waters.

Getty Images


Why do whales explode?

Much of the social media buzz around the Skegness strandings has been explosion related. Understandably, some people have been less than impressed by images of a leaking whale -- "The LAST thing I want to hear about on my lunch break is a dead whale 'exploding'" one user tweeted. But why do they explode, exactly?

When a whale dies in the wild, it sinks to the ocean floor where it's eventually scavenged by communities of sharks, fish and tiny bone-eating worms. This process of feeding and decomposition can take up to 30 years, and can be as ecologically significant as the whale's life cycle.

When a whale is beached it is not afforded such a luxurious death. Gas builds up inside the whale as its stomach contents decompose -- but due to its thick, tough blubber and skin, it can't be released. A combination of heat and the whale's own body weight can cause orifices to close up, intensifying the problem.

In order to see this embed, you must give consent to Social Media cookies. Open my cookie preferences.


What normally causes a whale to finally pop is not natural, however -- it's manmade. Many beached whales are poked, moved or purposefully degassed by bystanders, causing the skin to rip. This then unleashes an unholy mix of guts, gas and other unpleasant viscera -- sometimes at extremely high speed.

The phenomena isn't just present in whales -- the build up, and subsequent release, of gas happens with most animals as they decompose. But because whales are so much bigger, the bang is slightly more noticeable.

At this point, you may be thinking that watching a whale explode in person would be fun. Think again. According to marine biologist Andrew Thaler, a decomposing whale is "one of the worst smells in the world".