Hi all! Reminds me of the time I was involved with a Marine Mammal Stranding in Wellfleet, Ma. We were unsuccessful in saving any of the 63 beached whales, and they had to be disposed of on the beach with backhoes etc......I was working as a student for the College of the Atlantic, in conjunction w/ Univ. Guelph,Ontario, The Boston Aquarium, and many volunteers.
We had Fed. permits to recover 3 whales for the schools program, and had to flensch off the meat down to the bones,if possible, transport them to Maine for eventual Museum display.
Going down the highway with 3 whale skeletons in tow, blood still oozing, and general nasty parts lingering, on a double axle trailer was awesome.Not one car could stay behind us for more than 4-5 minutes, as the stench permeated the highway such, and us too, that we created quite a stir going thru Boston at rush hour , teehee
I had to burn the Foulweather gear, it hung outside after 4 washings, for over 6 months and still was very pungent!
Anyway , there is nothing worse than a dead sea turtle, marine mammal, ie whale , seal etc that stinks up a place more! I still have smell memories every so often, could not imagine what working on the Whalers was like, that is the one thing that time can not capture.
stephen
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