Huge beached whale in France 'could explode at any time'

Whale washed up on French beach could explode

A beach in France has been cordoned off after fears a huge whale that washed ashore could explode.

The whale washed up at Saintes-Marie-de-la-Mer, near Montpelier, in early November, reports the Metro.

Experts are warning the whale is so bloated with gas, it could explode at any time.

Anaïs Cheiron, project manager of the national reserve of Camargue, told daily newspaper Midi Libre: "Because of the heat, gases form inside the cadaver – hence, the bulging appearance of the whale – and accumulate until they explode."

The threat of the whale exploding has led to road access to the whale being blocked and the area around it closed off to prevent people coming near it or touching it.

According to thelocal.fr, authorities are now looking into different ways of disposing of the animal.

One option could be dragging it out to sea and using dynamite to detonate it, but boats are unable to close enough to the shore because of sand banks.

Another option could be cutting the whale into pieces and loading them onto a van to be disposed of.

A video from 2013 showed the explosion of a dead whale in the Faroe Islands and demonstrated how dangerous it could potentially be for a person to be nearby at the time.

The sperm whale was one of two that died last November after beaching in the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic.

According to the Daily Mail, the animals died after becoming trapped in a narrow channel, and residents of the 50,000-strong Danish community wanted to use the skeleton of one for a museum.

Bjarni Mikkelsen, a marine biologist at the National Museum of the Faroe Islands, was sent to cut open the carcass, which exploded as soon as he started.