The Video of an Exploding Whale You Don't Want to Watch (But Secretly Really Do)

Editor's note: be warned this post contains graphic images.

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You should be thankful you don't have this guy's job.

That's because he was tasked to cut open the stomach of a dead whale washed ashore and in doing so became the target of a rush of blood and guts as the innards exploded outward.

In a show similar to the the infamous blowing up of a whale carcass in Portland, Ore., in the 1970s -- except the exploding is of natural causes in this case -- the sperm whale on the beach of Denmark's Faroe Islands, when sliced, releases its contents in such dramatic fashion due to pent-up gases.

The moment the man cutting open the whale hit a gas pocket. (Image source: YouTube)

Similar gas-powered whale carcass explosions have been documented before.

Biologist Adam Ruben in explaining another whale explosion for the Science Channel series "Outrageous Acts Of Science" earlier this year, put it this way: "This whale, before it died, ate a lot of things, it ate a lot of other creatures and those creatures started to putrefy in its stomach and released a lot of gases when they did. And so this whale has a tremendous build up of gas."

Image source: YouTube

Image source: YouTube

Gases would include methane, hydrogen sulphide and ammonia. You can only imagine the smell.

Using a sickle-shaped tool, the biologist in this case carefully cut into the carcass and must have just hit the gas pocket.

Cue "Monte Python and the Holy Grail" "run away" quote. (Image source: YouTube)

Watch the footage -- if you dare (Content warning: graphic imagery):

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