Pet King

The phone rang a few times before it was picked up.

“Hello?”

“Hello? Is this Ke Shaohui of the Fishery Bureau? I’m Zhang Zian. We met before when we were saving that minke whale…” Zhang Zian was worried that the other party had forgotten him, so he introduced himself as soon as he picked up the phone.

“I remember. Is there a problem?”

Zhang Zian glanced at the body of the grey gray whale and tried to give a fast, but clear, explanation. “I’m so sorry for calling your personal phone number, but if I call the office number for the Fishery Bureau, it would take too long… It’s like this––a little north of where the minke whale was beached, there’s a dead mature gray whale.”

“Oh? It’s already dead?” Ke Shaohui confirmed.

“I estimate that it’s been dead for 14 hours. It could have been washed up on shore last night,” Zhang Zian answered.

“All right, I’ll record it. I’m currently dealing with a case of illegal fishing. I’ll send someone over later. Thank you for calling…”

There was a lot of background noise from Ke Shaohui’s side. Employees of the Fishery Bureau could be heard arguing with fishermen.

“No, no, you don’t understand.” He knew that the other party did not understand the seriousness and urgency of the situation.

He understood. After all, in Binhai City, there had been no traces of whales at all, and the people in the Fishery Bureau probably did not have the experience to deal with such an urgent situation. They were not familiar with the unique features of the whale, and the efficiency of the public service system was known to be low, which was the case in any country. He was afraid it would take several years to establish effective countermeasures.

“Don’t hang up,” he warned in a serious tone. “It’s dangerous to leave a dead whale on the shore! When whales die, their bacteria begins to decompose their cells and tissues. It breaks down their carbohydrates, fats, and proteins into carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and methane, which is the process of decay. But the problem is that whales have really thick, strong skin, too much fat and protein in their bodies, and such a large amount of gas cannot be discharged from the body. It will accumulate in their bodies, and the pressure slowly rises. When the pressure reaches a critical point…”

“What will happen?” Ke Shaohui asked. The background noise was softer. It seemed like he had moved to another area, and it was obvious that Zhang Zian’s words and tone had caused him to place a higher emphasis on the phone call.

“It will explode.” Zhang Zian was not exaggerating to scare people. It was not rare to see cases of a whale exploding after it died on the shore.

After the death of most animals, the corpses went through the process of decay, provided that they were not eaten by other scavengers. The process of decay was much the same, but the bodies of other animals would hardly explode after death. There was too much fat in whales––no other animal accumulated so much fat––and it produced huge amounts of gas after decomposition.

There were rumors a few years back that in America a fat man that had a body mass above 500 pounds died. When he was cremated, the oil that spurted out from his body ignited a crematorium in Virginia.

The truth of the news was unknown, but assuming it was true, the culprit was not oil, but gas, including methane, that was produced by the decomposition of the oil. When the skin was heated and melted, the high-pressure gasses accumulated in the body eventually found vent channels and sprayed out with residual grease. Such instances led to fires.

The 500-pound fat man was so ruthless in his death. What would happen when a whale that weighed tens of tons died? There were only three passages connecting the outside world in whales––the cloaca, the throat, and the air vents on its back. Gray whales had two air vents, but there was no vital difference.

When a whale was alive, it could control the opening and closing of the channels through its muscles. But when the whale died, the muscles lost control. Under the pressure of tons of fat, the channels were blocked. The gas generated in the body could not be vented anywhere. It happened that the skin of the whale was too strong, which caused it to become an inflatable balloon.

No matter how sturdy the balloon was, if one continuously pumped air into it, it would eventually exceed the limit and explode.

If a whale died in the deep ocean, that is not a problem because sharks and other fish with sharp teeth could quickly destroy the integrity of the whale skin. When gas escaped from the body, the body of the whale could not continue to float on the surface, so it would naturally sink into the deep sea, forming a whale fall.

With a loud roar, Ke Shaohui ordered everyone present to shut up. He nervously asked Zhang Zian, “Explosion? Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. It’s just a matter of time before it happens.”

Zhang Zian simply explained to him the process behind the explosion. However, as to the results of the explosion…

He took a look at the whale body and found out that the group of young people that was taking photos did not listen to his warning. They were still gathered near the whale’s body. There was even a person who tried to climb onto the whale’s body to take a selfie. It was as if they were seeking death… No one knew how high the air pressure in the whale’s body was, and no one knew how much longer the whale’s skin could last. A person’s weight could be the final straw.

If the whale’s body exploded below that person’s legs… then he could really go up to the nine skies to take the moon––and bid goodbye to his balls.

Truck tire explosions could cause serious injuries to people… Not to mention a whale carcass that was innumerable times larger than a truck tire.

Furthermore, the people that were arguing were still doing so; they had yet to leave.

In early 2004, a sperm whale was stranded and died off the coast of TW Yunlin County. According to local newspapers, there were about 600 bystanders gathered at the scene, enduring low temperatures and the severe cold, just to meet the whale to satisfy their curiosity. The situation even attracted a large number of vendors that sold melon seeds, drinks, and snacks on the spot…

In the end, the sperm whale exploded in the downtown area on its way to Tainan for dissection. The scene was as bloody as a scene from a horror film.

At present, the number of people gathered was far less than 600, but many people heard the news and were coming one after another. From time to time, new arrivals curiously ran to the whale corpse to take photos. It was a holiday, so everyone had time to come down and see the whale for themselves.

If that continued on, the scene in 2004 could possibly occur again.

The whale’s body was not much smaller than the sperm whale; the explosion would probably be around the same level.

Zhang Zian took a photo of the scene and sent it to Ke Shaohui, saying, “The most troublesome thing is that there are still a lot of onlookers here. I’ve tried to convince them to leave, but sadly, my words are lacking in power. They won’t listen to anyone.”

On the other side of the phone, he heard Ke Shaohui’s heavy breathing. He cursed angrily and said, “I will rush over as fast as possible. On the way, I will inform the police to keep the order. Please try to persuade everyone to leave the scene!”