Thar She's About to Blow: Newfoundlanders Fear Beached Whale Might Explode

May 2, 2014 (TROUT RIVER, Newfoundland) -- The 60-ton carcass of a blue whale is rotting on the shore on Canada's east coast, stinking up a town and triggering fears that it could burst.

Provincial officials said Wednesday they're working with federal agencies to help small towns on Newfoundland's west coast deal with the rotting carcasses of whales, including one that washed ashore near the town of Trout River.

The town's clerk, Emily Butler, said the 26-meter (28.4-yard) blue whale is beached next to a community boardwalk and is emitting a powerful stench that is spreading through the town of 600 people. Butler said residents are worried that the methane gas brought on by decomposition could cause the animal to burst.

"I'm not sure with the heat and gases that are trapped inside of this mammal if at some point in time it will explode," Butler said.