f the many extraordinary sights revealed in Channel 4’s upcoming four-part series Inside Nature’s Giants, which uses dissection to take us inside the bodies of an elephant, giraffe and crocodile, the most remarkable is surely afforded by an autopsy carried out on a 65-foot long, 60-ton fin whale (a species second only in size to the blue whale) beached off the coast of Ireland.
“I am always awed by how magnificently large and streamlined whales are,” says Dr Joy Reidenberg, the comparative anatomist who oversaw the in situ dissection amid gales, driving rain and hail. Working against the effects of rapid decomposition and an advancing tide that threatened to engulf the whale, Reidenberg’s team had only a few hours to complete the dissection. “It’s a messy operation,” Reidenberg explains. “You have to dissect it from the inside out. At one point I crawled under the ribcage to get to the heart. All you could see were my boots sticking out.”
The team excised over 200 feet of guts, which were loaded onto dumper trucks and laid out on tarp sheets the size of an Olympic swimming pool. Other markers of the whale’s immensity included jaws weighing three tons each, a heart the size of a small car and a windpipe wide enough, says Reidenberg, “that I could actually wear it like a dress”.
Inside Nature’s Giants, which starts on Channel 4 – Monday, is the brainchild of producer David Dugan of Windfall Films (also behind The Operation: Surgery Live). “I had been reading about Darwin and early animal dissections carried out by his friend Richard Owen,” Dugan says. “Each animal’s evolutionary past is hidden within its anatomy. These dissections gave us the chance to show how natural selection created these animals.”
I can’t wait for this series. I was absolutely riveted to my seat watching the series about human bodies with Dr Gunther von Hagens. I loved his exhibition which I caught while in Berlin, with all the plastinated people all pulled apart into layers and strands. Truely amazing!!
Oy…wanna see it too!
I am definitely watching this!
That’s kind of nasty, but less nasty than “plastinated people all pulled apart into layers and strands”. Dude. DUDE. COME ON.
What’s new about this? Sofar nothing new from what I’ve read. Just done to entertain viewers then I guess. Hopefully they did not pick those animals and kill it plainly for this reason. Entertainment should never be a reason to kill. Human or animal. Killing humans is not so far from what a few people here and there apparently would love to see and some apparently already watch (snuff movies etc).
They even killed little chickens in a cooking program … and more of this stuff which is plainly there for entertainment and should be forbidden. It’s disgusting. And damn hypocrite from those who came up with it. And those who want to watch these things … sometimes you’d better shoot them. And dissect them. I’ve seen a few people here and there in their depressed state who are not far from going the wrong path as well. They actually laugh their heads of in their depressed emotional state about these things. Nope, no sane comment will follow.
You mean the Gordon Ramsey show, with the cooking thing? I think that was right. If you do eat meat you should be aware of what it is. It doesn’t grow in packaging, people need to take responsibility for what they buy for dinner.
I really don’t think they killed beasts for the purposes of this TV show. It sounds pretty gross, though. The thought of all that intestine makes me feel a bit unwell.
Snuff movies are different from dead peple in an art exhibition. I think it sounds pretty nasty and disturbing, but if they volunteered their bodies then it was their own choice and people can go look at their stringy dead remains if they want (eewww). Snuff movies mgiht not even exist:
http://www.snopes.com/horrors/madmen/snuff.asp
it’s a scam…they’re really plasticine porters with looking-glass eyes…
we created the graphics for this series…. the animals all died of natural causes or were euthanased because they were suffering from painfull terminal illnesses…. it is a facinating insight into what makes these species unique. I suggest you watch it before condemning it!
I disagree with the comments made about this being purely for entertainment purposes. Clearly some people have different opinions on what is entertainment.
I think this is going to be a very interesting series. As a Biology student I am interested in the anatomy of these huge animals and how natural selection relates to this. And for anyone without a knowledge of Biology it will be fascinating to see the techniques of disscection and very educational.
I agree with Matthew. I find nothing disgusting about any of it. The plastinated bodies exhibition was fascinating. Do you never wonder what goes on inside your body, or how amazing it is that everything that is crammed inside you works in unison to keep you alive? The people donated their bodies so others could learn. If doctors didn’t use human corpses to disect and explore whilst doing there degrees etc they certainly wouldn’t have a clue about how to fix it when something goes wrong. Think about it!!! The same applies to animals for Vets. Yes i know if we didn’t keep them in zoo’s we wouldn’t need to fix them, but if the species is dying out then why not learn as much about them as possible so we can help. My grandad was a butcher and I have seen him cut up cow carcasses, so i know my steak didn’t miraculously get on my plate as if by magic. And seriously, snuff movies??? How is that even related.
In theory, I loev learning about anatomy and biology. I just had a visceral reation to disembowelling things and to dead bodies. Sorry. I can’t help it.
Its interesting how we react to dead bodies (human or animal)… they are only a shell, it seems a waste to me to bury them in the ground, we can learn so much by taking them apart and seeing how they work. I’d be happy to donate my body to medicine when I’m dead, I’ve no use for it then!!
Always makes me wonder in terms of things like organ donation, we bury a body and let it rot away when it could have done some good…
Vomiting all the way from creationism to science!
Oooo No! Too much for me personally.
The human bodies one was fascinating but this seems a little bit wrong. I know they won’t know they’re being chopped up on TV but can’t see what a casual viewer would gain from watching. Might just be because the pic is of my second favourite animal.
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I’m not totally condemning it by the way. Can’t judge something I aren’t going to watch. Just not for me.
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I have no problem in gaining a greater understanding of our planet and its inhabitants’ evolution for the betterment of science, but I do question as to the procurement of said animals, in particular the giraffe and its stomach and intestine – the contents of which, including its excrement looked quite fresh. I’m sure but not entirely certain whether these animals were in fact diseased and thus “euthanased” for the benefit of us the viewing public. The series has a touch of being “sexed up” science probably on the part of the host – who has appeared on “makeover” shows in the past. Thta is all.