Surely most of us here have seen that one grisly yet fascinating video that showcases the explosion of a gigantic whale on a beach. It must have been quite a shock for the nearby strollers who expected to spend their leisurely morning walking on the coarse, white sand whilst listening to the soft rumbles of the crashing waves only to hear a loud “pop” in the distance as chunks of whale blubber start flying towards their vision. Although this strange occurrence is not unheard of, what exactly causes a dead whale to explode? Turns out, bacteria play a major role in this remarkable process.

As with all living organisms, whales have microbiomes. When a whale dies, the bacteria within the whale’s microbiome will overpopulate and begin the decomposition process. All the while this is occurring, carbon dioxide will start to accumulate within the whale’s body since its lungs are no longer functioning and thus the carbon dioxide cannot be released. When this happens, the accumulated carbon dioxide will proceed to acidify in which the produced acids will break down the outer membrane of the cells, causing molecules within the cells to leak out. One such molecule that contributes to the whale’s explosion is the lipid; after the bacteria synthesize these lipids into energy and carbon dioxide, the produced carbon dioxide will be converted to methane. As the amount of methane within the whale’s body increases, so will the amount of pressure within the whale’s body increase. Eventually the pressure will become so great that the whale will literally explode, leading to the videos of exploding whales that we see on the internet.