Filmmaker Troy Hale, winner of 21 Emmy Awards, took time out of his serious work to make “Fart: A Documentary.”
Focused on the human aspects of flatulence, Hale began to think about how gas plays out in the animal world, so he came to Completely Optional Knowledge to find out which animal has the smelliest farts.
Rick Schwartz, ambassador and keeper for the San Diego Zoo, dug into his memories of the worst farts he has ever encountered to select the sea lion as the number the producer of the foulest wind on earth.
And working with 60 different species of animals, Schwartz knows what stands out in a crowd. At the zoo, you can picture the scene as families stroll the pathways in the southern California sunshine observing elephants, rhinos, and hippos all incredibly large and slow moving beasts lazily chewing on food when all of the sudden there’s a loud thunderclap like noise. People react, particularly at close range, but it’s the sea lion that will clear an area the quickest, Schwartz tells us.
Seafood lovers beware, the sea lion’s diet of fish and squid are the culprits behind its particular brand of stink.
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