Rotting flesh and buzzing bugs greet biology class dissecting beached whale
Haydn Watters | CBC News | Posted: October 19, 2016 10:15 AM | Last Updated: October 19, 2016
Warning: This story contains images that some may find disturbing
Blood, bugs and a lot of blubber — not your everyday field trip.
But that was the assignment for the comparative vertebrate anatomy class at St. Francis Xavier in Antigonish on Tuesday.
Professor Randy Lauff said he heard about a whale that washed up on Pomquet Beach (likely during the Thanksgiving weekend storm) and knew he had to take his class out to dissect it.
Armed with blades, rubber boots and yellow dishwashing gloves, they head out to the beach and brought CBC Radio's Mainstreet along for the adventure.
At first, the whale was a bit hard to find. It was far on the other end of the beach, obscured by the grass. It wasn't until the group got 100 metres away that the smell started. Shortly after, it came into sight. There were lots of flies buzzing around it.
Lauff was quick to identify what kind of whale it was: a pilot whale. The group verified that in a book they brought along.
First came the observations. The students measured the whale (5.1 metres), looked at the damage to it and even posed for selfies and photos.
This was only the third time in Lauff's 26 years of teaching that he was able to let students dissect a beached whale on site.
Then came the first cut. There was some hesitation, as a few students had talked about seeing videos of exploding whales. Lauff warned the class that gas pressure might have built up as the whale sat on the beach and could cause a small explosion.
There was none of that, though Lauff did get a small squirt of liquid to his face and neck later on when he punctured the whale's stomach.
With the first cut made, several students picked up knives and started their own dissections.
Ellen Doohan got to remove the whale's shoulder blade. "I actually quite enjoyed it," she said. "I didn't mind the smell. I didn't find it morbid as I thought it was going to be."
Jane Fletcher helped Doohan out on the shoulder blade. "The smell was manageable. You kind of just don't breathe through your nose," she said. "This is new for me."
Other students worked on other parts of the whale. Along with the shoulder blade, they took out a rib and a pelvic bone.
Brett Young was working on getting one of the ribs. His thoughts? "A lot of blood, a lot of blubber and a pretty gross smell... it feels like it's been rotting here for ages."
After poking and prodding at some of the whale's organs, all of the dissected parts were put in garbage bags and transported back down the beach using a sled.
Fletcher gave it a nickname: the "sled of flesh."
The parts are headed back to the lab at the university, where the class will analyze them further.
They might have to spend a night at Lauff's house first though, where he will clean some of them off.
"I have a very tolerant wife."