A movie recording the moment of the blast, which celebrates the 50th anniversary of the legendary 'whale blast dismantling event', is also on sale
On November 9, 1970, a gray whale about 45 feet (13.7 meters) long was washed ashore on the coast of the town of
The Exploding Whale remastered: 50th anniversary of legendary Oregon event | KATU
https://katu.com/news/local/the-exploding-whale-50th-anniversary-of-legendary-oregon-event
Fifty years ago, Oregon exploded a whale with a half-ton of dynamite --The Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/11/13/oregon-whale-explosion-anniversary/
You can see how the whale was actually blown up and dismantled by watching the following movie.
Exploding Whale 50th Anniversary, Remastered! --YouTube
Paul Linman, who was a news reporter for KATU at the time, has a microphone in front of the whale that was washed ashore.
The whale that was washed ashore was about 14 meters long, and while the authorities were thinking about how to dispose of it, it was decaying and the stench was a problem.
Oregon officials decided to 'explode the whales' on November 12, three days after the wreck, as the stench spread to the surrounding beaches.
Engineers working in the Oregon Department of Transportation's Highway Division were mobilized for the demolition.
About 0.5 tons of dynamite was brought to the beach because of the blast.
Authorities believed that blasting and breaking down whales would make them easier for seagulls and crabs to eat and waves.
Highway section engineer interviewed.
Dynamite is installed around the whale and it is ready.
Spectators gathered around to see the rare event of a whale blasting.
The countdown begins when people move away ...
explosion.
Cheers will be heard from the spectators.
However, the rotten fat that had fallen apart was scattered farther than expected due to the blast, and people were forced to escape from the fat that had fallen overhead in a hurry. Reporter Linman and photographer Doug Brazil have also been wearing fat.
The blast dismantling scattered odorous debris, and the area was surrounded by more rotting odors than ever before. In addition, the blown fat reaches the parking lot about 400 meters away from the blast point ...
An accident occurred in which a car hit by a large amount of fat was crushed.
Fortunately no one was in the car and no one was injured.
Other spectators, engineers, and the press did not suffer any damage other than the smell of their bodies.
However, the seagulls, who were expected to eat the fallen fat, disappeared from the surroundings, perhaps because they were surprised by the explosion. In addition, only a part of the fat was blown away by the blast, and the remaining part was finally removed by the Expressway Division.
In the end, the blast dismantling event only scattered odorous fat over a wide area, and the attempt was unsuccessful. 'When the whales drift ashore again, the person in charge will not only remember what to do, but also'what not to do',' Linman said at the end of the report. I did.
The 'Whale Explosion Event' was a well-known story in Oregon, but it became more widely known about 20 years later with the introduction of news footage. Mr. Linman, who was a reporter, also received a lot of attention, commenting, 'I was asked and talked about this case by strangers almost every day.'
'It's great that this case continues to be a story on the Internet 50 years later,' said Brazil.
In addition, the whale explosion dismantling event did not cause much damage other than the crushed car, so it seems that it is regarded as a representative event of the town in Florence. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the blast in 2020, the nearby park is named ' Exploding Whale Memorial Park '.
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