A whale of a tale

[HiFlyer 9,358]

On November 12, 1970, the good people of Florence, Oregon came together to address the issue of a beached grey whale that was apparently too big to be removed with any method other than a dynamite explosion. According to a 1990 Washington Post article, the whale was 45 feet long and weighed eight tons. “The responsibility for getting rid of the carcass was placed upon the Oregon State Highway Division,” the article reads, “apparently on the theory that highways and whales are very similar in the sense of being very large objects.”

With all the enthusiasm of a group of horrible kids burning ants with magnifying glasses and strapping firecrackers to frogs, the Highway Division placed 20 cases of dynamite around the dead animal. The local KATU News, along with a bunch of people excited to witness a rare combination of whale-watching and fireworks, was there to witness what came next.

After a countdown finishes, the whale explodes into a wall of mist. Those watching cry out in happy excitement before the mood turns. “Our cameras stopped rolling immediately after the blast,” anchor Paul Linnman says. “The humor of the entire situation suddenly gave way to a run for survival as huge chunks of whale blubber fell everywhere.”

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the infamous beached whale incident, the Oregon Historical Society has arranged for a 4K transfer of the original raw film footage from their archive. KATU has re-edited the package from the new high resolution video.

 

[sevenflyer 12]

Laugh my head off.

I take it Les Nesman never heard of this event either, huh!!

[RichieFly 728]

Humans. What a bunch of maroons.

 

[Gridley 257]

I posted this on my FB page the other day.  

"Hey, I'm looking for a new project.  I have a technique to remaster video and simultaneously upscale to 4k.  Looking for something of historical significance to apply this to."

"How about this one?"

"PERFECT!"

[Tim_Capps 474]

One thing I've learned in my career: bodies are always harder to get rid of than you imagine. Instead of dynamite, they should have used acid. Lots of it, trucked in by big tanker trucks and sprayed on the whale. That would have been a lot safer.

[HighBypass 2,339]

29 minutes ago, Tim_Capps said:

One thing I've learned in my career: bodies are always harder to get rid of than you imagine.

You piqued my interest, sir! Your profile info explains that statement.