Exploding Whale Day

[Ed, Ego and Superego]

Not to cheapen Veteran's Day, but also today is one of the most astounding day's in Oregon History:
Exploding Whale Day. 


http://theexplodingwhale.com/

42 Years ago, some person though they had the way to get rid of a dead whale that washed up...
From the Eugene Register-Guard the next day:
"The beach erupted in a 100-foot high column of sand and whale. Chunks of the animal flew in every direction and spectators began to scream and run for cover when they glimpsed the large pieces soaring directly overhead.

No one was hit, but a piece about three feet long caved in the top of a late-model car in a South Jetty Road parking lot.

Walter Umenhofer, a Springfield businessman, stood in the middle of a crowd around his damaged car and ruefully watched a hard-hatted highway worker remove the piece of blubber with a shovel."

[Flangepart]

:smile:One of the finest confirmations at Snopes.com. And a great video.

[Leah]

I believe I saw a video of that before.

[Andrew]

I discovered this video and story sometime around 1998 and was amazed.  It's stunning how often people make bad choices, but a few tons of rotting whale and dynamite are sure to illustrate the point.  Good memories, thank you. 

[AndyC]

Showed it to my daughter last night. She thought it was the funniest thing she'd ever seen. The descriptions in the news articles got bigger laughs out of her than the video. The thought of people screaming and running for cover from a barrage of flying whale meat just cracked her up.

[Jack]

That's the day we learned that dynamite doesn't actually disintegrate stuff, it just blasts it apart and sends pieces flying everywhere.   

[FatFreddysCat]

I first heard about this in a newspaper column by humorist Dave Barry many years ago. He said that a reader had sent him a video of the incident and that it was "glorious."

Apparently the demolition was performed by the Oregon state highway department. Barry wondered in his column how they got the gig, and surmised that it must've fallen under their jurisdiction because "whales and highways are both large."

[Ed, Ego and Superego]

Actualy Oregon has no private beaches, and they are classified as right of ways...so it falls under the highway dept by one of those legal oddities. 

Its nice actually, you don't get rich folks buying to stretched of sand like in California.

[bob]

I found video of said whale exploding!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtVSzU20ZGk&feature=player_embedded

[alandhopewell]

:smile:One of the finest confirmations at Snopes.com. And a great video.

     The first thing I ever saw on YouTube....LMAO!

[tracy]

I've never liked this video....in a small minority and used to it.

[retrorussell]

Boy do I remember that.  Nasty!

[BoyScoutKevin]

You can see all the damage done to vehicles in the area from the explosion. I'd like to know how their owners explained what happen to their insurance company.

[Flangepart]

You can see all the damage done to vehicles in the area from the explosion. I'd like to know how their owners explained what happen to their insurance company.

I know!
I treat it like a Bob Newhart phone routine...
"Hello? Hello is this New Brunswick insurance? Oh, good. Uh, my name is Phil Collins...yea, like the singer- and I need to talk to someone about my car.
Well, it's a funny story (Heh) and uh...Have you been watching the news lately? Oh, you've been busy. Wow, that could be really inconvieniant..."

[indianasmith]

I was relating this story to my students today, and they got a real kick out of it.
You know, "Detonating Cetaceans" would be a GREAT name for an alternative band!