Dead whales cut open to stop them from exploding on beach

NEW ZEALAND — A New Zealand beach has been closed down after mass whale strandings have led to fears of the decomposing carcasses going “pop!”

Radio New Zealand reports that it’s not uncommon for whales to get stranded in the shallow waters of Golden Bay on the northern tip of New Zealand’s South Island. But on Thursday, hundreds of pilot whales died after getting beached in Golden Bay’s Farewell Spit beach — the third largest mass beaching in the country’s history.

Authorities are working to remove the carcasses, but the first order of business is to avoid a mass gut-spilling.

Dead whales have a tendency to explode, especially in high temperatures, as methane gas builds up in their bodies.

Their thick skin and blubber prevent gases from being released, often resulting in the bodies violently bursting open after pressure builds up to spew out a disgusting cocktail of organs and fluids. To avoid this, workers have been puncturing the carcasses to let the gases out.

Some of the carcasses will go to Massey University, so that scientists can try to figure out what caused the mass beaching. The rest will either be buried or left to wash out to sea.