14 DAY TRIAL // Plenty of people like to think of France as one of the most romantic countries in the world and, truth be told, the wine, the exquisite cuisine and the Eiffel Tower are reasons enough to do so.
Still, the news that a whale is on the verge of exploding on one of France's beaches might make some folks change their mind.
The marine mammal, photos of which were shared with the public and are available below, is said have died a few weeks ago.
It washed ashore near Montpellier on the country's Mediterranean coast in early November, and authorities still have no idea what to do with it.
Could this whale really explode?
Having analyzed the marine mammal's corpse, wildlife specialists and other experts concluded that, as odd as this may sound, this dead whale that washed ashore in France just a few days ago could in fact explode at any time.
As shown in the photos shared with the public, the dead whale's body looks very much like a seriously oversized ball.
This is because, during natural decomposition processes, its insides became filled with all sorts of gases. It is these gases that specialists fear will cause the animal to blow up.
“Because of the heat, gases form inside the cadaver – hence, the bulging appearance of the whale,” specialist Anais Cheiron said in a statement, as cited by Daily Mail. “They accumulate until they explode,” he went on to detail.
What options do they have?
Presently, authorities in France are still weighing in their options. Apparently, some say that the beach should be closed and that the whale's body should be allowed to explode on its own. Then, collecting the resulting bits and pieces should be easy-peasy.
Others argue that the whale's body should be dragged out at sea and destroyed using dynamite or some other explosive. This way, whatever remains of the marine mammal will not stink up France's coastline.
What's happened to this whale anyway?
Despite having taken the time to analyze the marine mammal's body, wildlife experts cannot say for sure how and why this animal died.
Information shared with the public says that skin, fat and muscles samples have been collected, and that specialists hope they will soon determine the cause of death.
According to expert Jean-Baptiste Sénégas, it is possible that the animal died after getting hit by a ship and suffering severe internal injuries as a result.
Then again, chances are that, should the whale explode in the days or maybe even the hours to come, its cause of death will forever remain a mystery.
If there's one thing that's for sure, that's that they really should not poke the bloated animal with a spear or anything of the sorts. Some guy tried this on another whale back in November 2013, and things got really ugly. Check out the video below to see what happened.
