Fears are growing that a huge, rotting blue whale lying on the beach of a Canadian town could explode.
Residents in Trout River, Newfoundland, have appealed for help in removing the 25m (81ft) whale beached next to a community boardwalk.
They say it is emitting a powerful stench that is spreading through the town of 600 people and have asked the province’s environment and government services departments for help.
‘This is about the fact that this whale is blowing up on the beach. It has gases trapped inside of it,’ Trout River’s town clerk, Emily Butler, told the Telegram.
‘Until we get some definite answers back, this still remains a situation that we haven’t been given a final solution on.’
She added: ‘If that whale does explode, we don’t know what danger that would be to our infrastructure, the longliner itself, or to people.’
Jack Lawson, a research scientist with Canada’s fisheries department, said the chances of the whale exploding was ‘very small’.
‘Eventually, that gas will seep out….It will just deflate like an old balloon,’ he said.
‘The risk will come from somebody with a sharp blade who decides they want to cut a hole in the side to see what happens, or if someone is foolish enough to walk on it
‘With this animal (in Newfoundland), it’s highly unlikely that it’s going to happen, especially spontaneously.’
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