Whale explosion?

Kelly Tunney has a Slate article about an impending disaster in Newfoundland:

 

The sixty-ton carcass of a blue whale is rotting on the shore of a town named Trout River in Newfoundland, Canada, and its residents are worried it is going to explode.
The chance of the whale exploding is low, according to Jack Lawson, a research scientist in Canada's fisheries department, though his explanation of what will probably happen instead isn’t comforting either: “At some point, the skin of the animal will lose some of its integrity as all of the connective tissue starts to break down,” said Lawson. “Eventually, that gas will seep out and it will just deflate like an old balloon.”
Emily Butler, the town clerk in Trout River, is concerned about the stench from the carcass and of viruses that could be emitted while it’s rotting, and advises residents to stay away from it.
Poor whale.

Rico says he doesn't think viruses are gonna be the problem; bacteria, on the other hand, are pretty much guaranteed...