VIDEO: Whale Necropsy Shelved For the Sake of Tourism

Tuesday, 18 December 2012 | by Pat's Picks

The mayor of a town in Florida has said no to government scientists who want to necropsy the carcass of a 30-foot sperm whale that recently washed up on the town’s most popular beach. The Sun Sentinel says he feared that the process—which can cause the whale to explode—would be “bad for tourism.” (“No way are we going to let them cut this mammoth animal open on our beach. The stench would be incredible. Cut him open, and then cut the head off? I don’t think so.”) Instead, the 30-ton mammal was dragged out to sea. See the rescue effort below: