TOMS RIVER-- The body of a 40-foot whale washed up on Chadwick Beach this week, possibly the victim of an encounter with a ship. Although its advanced state of decomposition makes it difficult to know for sure, the animal is believed to be an endangered sei whale.
Now comes the gruesome task of disposing of the massive carcass, which weighs several tons. So what can be done with a dead whale?
Officials dealing with the Toms River specimen have opted to cut up the body and bury the pieces in a landfill, the preferred option in many cases, but not the only one.
Theoretically, officials could also let nature take its course and allow the animal to decompose where it is.
One big downside to that approach is, of course, the smell, which can carry for miles. When the carcass of a 45-foot sperm whale washed ashore in Scotland in 2014, authorities briefly considered letting the body decompose in place but ultimately rejected that option because, as is the case in Toms River, it was too close to a populated area. It was towed out to sea instead.
It's also possible for a specimen to be buried where it's found, although that presents its own logistical challenges (the hole, for one thing, would have to be, well, whale-sized). In December 2012, a 60-foot finback whale was interred at Breezy Point in Queens, N.Y., after it died at the beach there.
There's another method, however, that has fallen out of favor -- and for good reason.
In Florence, Oregon, in 1970, when an 8-ton gray whale was found on the beach, authorities decided to simply blow it up. A half-ton of dynamite was placed next to the side of the carcass facing away from the water (in the belief that the pieces would end up landing in the sea) and detonated.
Even standing at what was believed to be a safe distance, bystanders were forced to flee from a rain of large, potentially deadly chunks. One piece crushed a car parked a quarter-mile away, according to a local news report at the time.
Paul Milo may be reached at pmilo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@PaulMilo2. Find NJ.com on Facebook.