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Wednesday, December 04, 2019

Necrocitizen

Maneiras distintas de encarar a morte...

From From Here to Eternity 
by Caitlin Doughty.

When a gray whale dies it is a feast for all:

"The grey whale is an impressive creature-fifty feet long and weighing over thirty-six tons, with formidable likes spanning ten feet.  A dozen miles off the coast of California, she emerges into view and exhales with a final, weakened puff. After sixty-five years, death has come for the great beast, and she hangs limp at the surface.

"Some whales begin to sink straightaway, but this par­ticular whale will remain afloat. Inside the carcass, tissues and proteins are breaking down, organs are liquefying, and gases are building up -- they are filling the whale's blubbery outer casing, transforming her into a macabre balloon. If she were to be punctured in a single spot, the force of the pressurized gases would launch her mushy innards several yards from her body. But this whale's skin holds. Gases slip out slowly; our former cetacean deflates and begins her gradual descent to the sea floor below. Down, down she goes, traveling more than a mile, until at last the beast meets soft bottom./.../

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