Dead Bloated Fishyy??

Question

A few days ago my science teacher thought it would be a good idea to observe a living animal that didn't require a lot of work to be put in caring for it. So he got 4 or 5 beta fish (in diff bowls). And within like 2 days, one of them died and my teacher took it out of the bowl to observe it and it grew like 2x it's size! I don't mean grow but it "bloated". He wasn't even really able to explain it to anyone really. So my question is why did it bloat when it died and do humans bloat when dead too?

xoxoxoxo Annie May!

Answer 1

Wow, bad science teacher! When we die gases in our intestines force us to bloat. If you guys leave it out of the bowl and observe it for any longer it may even burst from gas-related bloat!

And yes, humans bloat, too, but with the embalming process it doesn't happen.

Answer 2

Yes, humans get bloated when they die. They get bloated from noxious gases that are released then the cells and organs and junk break down.

Answer 3

it's inflating. the food in the intestines start decomposing right away and the process produces gases which cause the intestines to expand

Answer 4

Yes all animals and humans "bloat" when they die. It has something to do with heat and the trapped air in the dead carcass. It has no where to go so the body swells.  

Answer 5

if a human died in water  and it wasTharr for 4 days or more it will bloat

Answer 6

Yeah I think it has something to do with the gasses in your body. my teacher told me a story: that when she worked in a morgue she brought a body down and it rose up by itself because of the air trapped in it! True Story...