Exhibited at New Bedford Whaling Museum in Massachusetts (USA) since 2000, the skeleton of KOBO, a young blue whale who died in sad circumstances in 1998, fascinates scientists. Indeed, although it goes against all logic, the whale, or at least its remains, continues to produce oil.
The sad end of KOBO the blue whale
One of the rarest animals on the planet, the blue whale is also the largest animal found on Earth. Capable of measuring up to 24 meters and weighing 150 tonnes, the blue whale or blue rorqual is a species classified as critically endangered by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature).
The main reason for this is hunting which has decimated the population globally. Indeed, according to the WWF (World Wide Fund for nature), between 1926 and 2018, the number of blue whales in the world fell from 125,000 to just 3,000 individuals.
KOBO, the acronym for King Of The Blue Ocean (King of the Blue Ocean), did not experience a similar end to his hunted peers. On the other hand, his death was due to another human activity. Thus, in 1998, the young 20-meter blue whale collided with the propeller of a 148-meter tanker and died instantly off the coast of Nova Scotia in Canada.
“He must have been five years old and weighed almost 36 tonnes when he died” declared Bob Rocha, a curator of the museum at Popular Science.
Discovered by another oil transport vessel, the whale's body was taken to Rhodes Island on the East Coast of the United States. There, his corpse was cleaned and his flesh removed, leaving only his bones. A job that lasted five months before arriving at New Bedford Whaling Museum to be exhibited there in 2000.
A whale that continues to “produce” oil
If today, in the vast majority of the world except in Japan for example, whaling is prohibited and punishable by law, this was not always the case. It was a particularly lucrative sector until the 20th century.
Indeed, in addition to the “glory” that could be reaped from having hunted one of the largest animals that exist on Earth, the whalers made considerable profit from their flesh, but also from their oil. As a Government of Canada fact sheet reminds us, “whale oil was a sought-after commodity in Europe at the time [ndr, entre le XVIe et le XVIIe siècle] because it produced a brighter flame. It was also used as a lubricant for leather goods and as an additive in the manufacture of paints, varnishes and soaps.”
If we know the “usefulness” of oil for humans, for whales, this “rare commodity” serves them to keep warm by nourishing the fatty layer which runs through their body and is also a source of energy in case of lack of food.
KOBO, during its lifetime, like any whale, produced oil to protect itself from the cold. However, the skeleton of the juvenile whale continues to produce 26 years after its tragic death. Giving off a particular and very strong odor in the museum, the oil would allow “visitors to get an idea of what it must have been like to be stuck on a whaling ship for three years.” explains Bob Rocha in comments reported by IFLScience.
Poor cleaning involved
Even though Halloween is fast approaching, don't see in the skeleton of this whale a message from the beyond. KOBO left us in a sad way in 1998.
As recalled Popular Sciencethe fact that the KOBO skeleton experiences oil leaks is completely normal. Indeed, in nature, when a whale dies and therefore its body reaches the ocean depths, the oil evacuates naturally into the Ocean and its entire corpse serves as a source of food for species resting on it. the sea and ocean floors.
However, if oil continues to leak from the bones of the blue whale exposed to New Bedford Whaling Museumthis is only because the substance was not fully extracted from his bones when his corpse was cleaned. In fact, until the resource is exhausted, KOBO will continue to deliver oil.
In 2010, the museum installed a jar to collect KOBO oil to prevent visitors from slipping or staining themselves during the visit, but also to see how much it was possible to collect.
According to information from Popular Sciencethe skeleton of the whale therefore delivers its oil in a 1000 milliliter jar. “We missed a good ten years of oil flow. It is certain that there was even more flowing out during the first ten years.” said Bob Rocha.
Source : IFLScience / Popular Science
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