I will admit that I have never dealt with the dead unborn calf thing...and I really don't want to.
Turtles though...I have come across a couple of those at sea before. Not sure how long they had been dead but the boat props definitely make sure they are well "aerated."
The worst I have ever dealt with was rotten chum. I usually chop up a bunch of menhaden and freeze them in one gallon plastic buckets with a fair amount of menhaden oil added to it--that really boosts the slick while you are waiting on the rest of the block to thaw.
One day I was taking this new chic out for a day of catching some reds, jacks, and sharks. I made sure to put a few extra blocks of chum in the boat so I wouldn't run out. Had a great day on the water and still only used one block of chum. Right when I got home it started pouring rain and I parked the boat but left it loaded. I figured I would get to it that eveining. Of course I fell asleep...then forgot when I woke from my nap...then forgot again when I went to work the next day...and the day after that...and the day after that.
Two weeks later I started to wonder what "that smell" was. When I decided to go fishing again, I went to go load the boat (that was still loaded from two weeks prior) and I found the source of the smell. In the heat of an Alabama August on the coast, four gallons of chopped baitfish will completely disentigrate in their rotting juices and begin to permeate through plastic containers. It even stained the gelcoat of the compartment they were sitting in. I was almost knocked out when I opened that hatch. Pulling each one of those containers was the worst smelly experience I have ever been through. I had to open the hatch, refrain from ralfing, grab a bucket, go pour, refrain ralfing, swallow a little bit of vomit, and dispose of the bucket...then go back and do it again.
I make sure to unload the boat no matter the weather now.
