A healthy humpback whale jumping in the Pacific Ocean.
Explosives were reportedly used in Perth, Australia, to euthanize a terminally ill baby humpback whale that had been stranded for two weeks on the country's western coast.
The whale, about 30 feet long, was given a "lethal explosion" to the brain, according to local news reports.
"It's ugly but it's also a fast and one of the few ways to euthanize a whale that's stranded and in distress for too long," said Ken Balcomb, the executive director and research biologist for the Center for Whale Research since 1985. The Center, located on the Pacific Northwest's San Juan Island, is nonpolitical.
Balcomb, who has euthanized several whales, said there are essentially two ways to end the mammal's life if there is no hope of healing it and freeing it. One can either exact a controlled explosion or cut the throat.
"If a whale has been in that spot for two weeks, you have to assume that its brain is not functioning, that it's in a twilight zone, and isn't really aware of what's happening," Balcomb said.
The longer a whale is out of water the more pressure builds on the mammal's organs, he said. "These are sad things, but they happen and the public should know that there's nothing else sometimes that can be done."
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Take a giant TV, put on the notebook, and the whale will be dead in 10 minutes.
I hear that's the next idea for capital punishment.
So did anyone else think about the exploding whale in Oregon?
KP: The "public" is not "oblivious" to the doctor's agony; the "public" simply demands that doctors step outside of their EGO, RELIGIOUS FEARS, or LEGAL FEARS, as the case may be, and do what's the most humane for the patient.
Next will be blowing up handicap people... " Because they dont move much" And their brain is not fully functioning.
Ohhh thats right... I went there O_o
There's a video on You Tube of them doing it across the river here in Washington during the 70s. Unfortunately, the chunks went airborne and began crashing into some nearby parked cars. BIG chunks.
I think hat was a dead sperm whale. Huge. I don't think it was the 70s. Maybe the 80s. Funny as hell that's for sure (since it was dead an all).
It makes sense actually. A whale is so big that shooting it even with a large caliber weapon wouldn't be quick enough. A directional explosive like those they use when they demolish high rises would be ideal. Those things project the explosion in such a precise line that it literally cuts a thick metal beam in half like a knife through butter. Put one of those at the base of the brain stem and it's instant lights out. Probably wouldn't be as morbid as a regular explosive either.
So nobody really knows why whales sometimes beach themselves. I say if I'm a sick whale and I know I'm gonna die, I might think it's better to beach myself instead of being eaten alive by sharks.
Who said you can never learn from the past?...
The answer is simple, you fools! Drop a large canister of black pepper down his blow-hole and he'll sneeze...then regain consciousness and swim away...yes, of course.
sometimes when a storm churns the ocean up it can disorient the ewhale and cause it to beach its self. it could already be sick or attacked by a shark who knows. its better to be humane than let a whale suffer. i love whales i am glad he did not suffer little guy we love you. bless the people who helped this gorgeous creature go into the light and be at peace bless you.
Maybe Sarah Palin can shoot it from a helicopter.
How does this compare to the whale's natural method of dying, which I believe is illegal, and is a death match between the whale and a pack of meat eating ocean animals. People are blind to the notion of what meat is, and cry about a dead animal instead of happily eating them, while not even claiming to not eat meat, simply being ignorant of what meat is due to censorship. Knowledge of death and ways of dying is equally censored, and all knowledge of death is typically based on fictional actors pretending to die, in which case as an actor it is important to fake die in a painless way. Real death is different, and can not be viewed legally, except in the case of cows and youtube.
hahahaha! gf whale
Nuke the baby whales for jesus!
The military has heavy-lift helicopters, why not have them attach a cable to the whale and airlift it out? Then they could attach explosives to it and drop it on the Taliban in Afghanistan. Imagine being a backwards desert tribesman and a freakin' whale lands in your camp. You'd be peeing your pants!