Fire in the Blowhole

On November 12, 1970 the Oregon Department of Transportation (Highway Division) used a half ton of dynamite in an attempt to disintegrate an enormous dead Pacific grey whale that had washed ashore in Florence, OR several days prior.

The explosion launched bits of whale as far as a quarter mile away, and one especially large chunk destroyed a parked car.  KATU News reported Paul Linnman covered the event, noting that bystanders and other journalists made it to safety, “however, everyone on the scene was covered with small particles of dead whale.”

The disintegration effort failed, doing little more than covering spectators with bits of whale and blanketing the area in a cloud of whale mist, leaving most of the carcass behind simply to be buried at the blast site.