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Posts Tagged ‘odor’

How to Deal with a Dead Whale

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on August 24, 2026| 3 Comments »

Photo: BBC Wildlife Magazine.
Beached humpback whale.

In late June of this year, a dead whale washed up on the east side of New Shoreham and quickly became a problem for island residents. It appeared to have been dead a long time, as Rhode Island’s Providence Journal reported, probably killed by a ship strike before becoming dinner for sharks.

Decomposition of whales, like anything else that big, smells overpoweringly bad.

At BBC Wildlife Magazine, marine science and conservation writer Melissa Hobson writes about how to deal with a whale carcass — not a problem I realize many of you will ever confront.

“In a first-of-its-kind experiment,” Hobson says, “researchers in Australia had the opportunity to tag a dead whale to see how the carcass moved through the ocean and where it fell to the seafloor. With an increase in whale strandings in Australia, understanding how remains travel with ocean currents is important when making decisions about disposing of carcasses.

” ‘As we’ve seen more and more whales stranding on Australian beaches in past years, the effective, safe and culturally sensitive removal of whale remains near or on public beaches has become a major issue,’ says Olaf Meynecke, from Griffith University’s Whales and Climate Research Program, who led the study.

“Current disposal methods, which include leaving the carcass on the beach, exploding it or sending it to landfill, can be difficult, expensive and pose public health risks. 

“In July 2023, they found a dead humpback whale floating off the coast of Noosa Heads, Queensland. The 14m female was probably killed by a ship strike. The researchers took this opportunity to test disposal at sea: a solution that could benefit the environment and members of the public. 

“Meynecke and his team moved the whale 18.5 miles (30km) offshore, added a satellite tag and tracked its location for six days until it fell to the seabed. This allowed them to develop and test a method to predict where the whale would drift with the wind and currents – a scientific first.

“ ‘Our study shows that forecasting of where whale remains might end up when floating at sea is possible with surprisingly high accuracy,’ says Meynecke.

“Whales that died from strandings have previously been towed out to deeper waters but some ended up in shipping lanes or back on shore. Being able to accurately predict where they will drift could give authorities a safe and cost-effective way of disposing of carcasses.

“If a dead whale is returned to the ocean, it also benefits animals that feed on it – from tiger sharks to deep-sea scavengers – and returns its nutrients to the ocean.

“ ‘Strategically placing whale remains offshore can enhance nutrient cycling and foster biodiversity, contribute to carbon removal and marine floor enrichment for up to seven years,’ says Meynecke.”

More at BBC Wildlife Magazine, here.

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Museum of Aromas

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on December 1, 2020| 8 Comments »

Don’t you love how many vocations and avocations there are in the world? Endless. People seem to keep thinking up new ones. They get interested in some obscure subject, and before you know it, they’re off to the races!

For example, as Nicola Davis writes at the Guardian, there are scientists trying to recreate the scents of Old Europe, from plague repellents to early tobacco.

“Smells can transport us to days gone by,” she notes. “Now researchers are hoping to harness the [smells] of the past to do just that.

“Scientists, historians and experts in artificial intelligence across the UK and Europe have announced they are teaming up for a €2.8m project labelled ‘Odeuropa’ to identify and even recreate the aromas that would have assailed noses between the 16th and early 20th centuries.

“ ‘Once you start looking at printed texts published in Europe since 1500 you will find loads of references to smell, from religious scents – like the smell of incense – through to things like tobacco,’ said Dr William Tullett of Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, a member of the Odeuropa team and the author of Smell in Eighteenth-Century England.

“The first step in the three-year project, which is due to begin in January, will be to develop artificial intelligence to screen historical texts in seven languages for descriptions of odours – and their context – as well as to spot aromatic items within images, such as paintings.

“That information will be used to develop an online encyclopaedia of European smells, including potted biographies of particular odours, together with insights into the emotions and places associated with certain scents.

“ ‘It will [also] include discussions of particular types of noses from the past – the kinds of people for whom smell was significant and what smell meant to them,’ said Tullett, adding that one example would be physicians.

“ ‘That could take us into all kinds of different scents, whether that is the use of herbs like rosemary to protect against plague, [or] the use of smelling salts in the 18th and 19th centuries as an antidote to fits and fainting,’ he said.

“Tullett added that a key part of the project is to highlight how the meanings and uses of different smells have changed over time, something that shows in the history of tobacco. …

“The team say they plan to use their findings to work with chemists and perfumers to recreate the smells of the past, and explore how the odours can be delivered – alongside insights into their significance – to enhance the experience of visitors to museums and other heritage sites.

“The team is not the first to engage the nostrils in the name of heritage – the Jorvik Viking Centre in York is famous for recreating the stench of the 10th century, a feature some have suggested makes a visit particularly memorable.

“ ‘One of the things that the Jorvik Viking Centre demonstrates is that smell can have a real impact on the way people engage with museums,’ said Tullett. But, he said, such engagement does not have to rely on unpleasant pongs.

“ ‘Where smell does get mentioned in museums, it is often the smells of toilets or wood burning,’ said Tullett. ‘We are trying to encourage people to consider both the foul and the fragrant elements of Europe’s olfactory past.’ ” More at the Guardian, here.

I guess there’ll always be an England.

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