An exploding fish – Whale? Yes! An exploding fish. It would interest you to know that there have been various cases of whale explosion for multiple reasons.
However, the unbelievable story of Oregon’s exploding sperm whale is of particular interest because it didn’t go as envisioned, and it stayed on the lips of many for years to come.
And now, you’re about to lend your lips to the many who talked about the Oregon whale explosion.
The sperm whale exploded by the authorities using dynamites to get rid of the carcass caused a bit of an uproar in 1970.
Many deemed it an unsuccessful operation, while a select few thought it a huge success. About 50 years later and here is all you need to know about this event.
10 /10 Who Let The Whale Out?
November 9, 1970, the people of the Oregon Coast in Florence were greeted with an unusual sight when a 14m sperm whale washed ashore on the central Oregon Coast.
Estimated to weigh about 16,000 lbs, the carcass was such a sight to behold. Many wanted it gone, and the final resort was to blow up the decaying mammal with explosives.
The rationale was to make the carcass small enough for consumption by scavenger birds – well, no scavengers came near, probably for fear of the noise of the explosives as Paul Linnman speculated.
9 /10 Larry Baron Was There
Larry, now 79, was a young, excited reporter at the time of the whale explosion in the 1970s.
According to him, the highway officials of the State Highway Division –which managed the Coast in those days – planned on removing the whale “like it was a big boulder on the highway.”
And as such, they planned to “blow up the whale to pieces, out toward the sea, and the fish and seagulls would eat most of it.” Well, that didn’t go as planned now.