January 26, 2004 Exploding Whales

On November 12, 1970, a 45 foot, 8-ton, dead sperm whale washed up on the beaches near Florence, Oregon.  State beaches came under the jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation at that time, and officials came down, to have a look.

Administrators discussed the matter with the US Navy and someone came up with a bright idea.  It wasn’t every day they had to remove 16,000 lbs of rotting whale meat, from the beach.  They’d remove the carcass the same way any self-respecting DOT would deal with a large boulder.  They’d blow the thing to pieces.

H/T, Offbeat Oregon History

The gulls and crabs could take care of cleanup if the pieces were small enough.  The only trick was to use enough dynamite.

No one could know it at the time, but the incident had already reached its high water mark.  From here on it would only be, downhill.

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