50th anniversary of Oregon's exploding whale

Written by Eric Dodson

(NOVEMBER 15, 2020) 50 years ago, one of the strangest events in Oregon history happened: A dead whale on an Oregon beach exploded.

This truly weird event became famous on TV. Later, it was spread on the internet. You can even listen to songs about the exploding whale, or wear T-shirts to celebrate it. But how did it happen?

On November 9, 1970, a dead whale washed up on the beach near Florence. People wanted to enjoy the beach, but the whale was huge. It was 45 feet long, and it weighed eight tons. And it smelled really, really bad.

The Oregon State Highway Division made a plan to remove the whale. They wanted to break it up into smaller pieces. Scavengers, which are animals that eat dead meat, could take away the smaller pieces.

That was the plan. But they wanted to use dynamite to blow up the whale. They set up 1,000 pounds of dynamite on November 12, 1970. Many people watched from far away. They thought they were being careful.

The loud explosion sent pieces of whale meat flying into the air. After that, the whale meat fell on people. Pieces of whale rained down 800 feet away. A car got crushed under a piece of whale meat, but nobody was hurt.

What was the worst part of this disaster? The terrible smell from the dead whale was everywhere for many more days. Also, the noise scared away other animals, so people had to clean up all the pieces of whale.

Now people watch the video of the exploding whale and laugh at how strange it was. And earlier this year, the City of Florence opened up the Exploding Whale Memorial park.

What did anyone learn from this experience?

The news reporter who saw it happen, Paul Linnman, said, "It might be concluded that, should a whale ever be washed ashore in Lane County again, those in charge will not only remember what to do, they'll certainly remember what not to do."

You can listen to this OPB News report on this story, too.