55 years ago! On November 9, 1970, a 45-foot-long sperm whale washed ashore at Florence, Oregon. The dead whale was estimated to weigh 8 tons. State officials decided to use dynamite to blow up the carcass into small chunks that scavenger animals and birds could eat. An official decided to use 1000 pounds of dynamite, far too much, as a demolition expert warned. The whale was exploded on November 12---but a lot of the body remained on the beach, and large, falling chunks caused onlookers to flee. No one was hurt, although people were inundated with a rain of smelly whale stuff, and a big chunk crushed the roof of an unoccupied car. Seagulls were scared away. Bulldozers were called in to push the whale remains out to sea--and explosives were never again used in Florence to deal with beached whale carcasses.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6CLumsir34
Copied under fair use principles.
No comments:
Post a Comment