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Showing posts from October, 2005

Honorable mention

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Our favorite topic — um, yes, that would be exploding whales — got an “honorable mention” in the following article about a 10-foot, 1000-pound  pygmy sperm whale carcass that came ashore in South Carolina, USA. While such a small whale would never warrant using explosives, the author simply couldn’t refrain from noting the following: In years past, officials would blow up large whales with dynamite to get rid of the remains. Now, in most cases, the remains are towed out to sea.” You can read the whole article here:  Dead whale found on Folly Field . Update 1-Nov-2005:  This poor whale ended up in a county landfill, though officials had some trouble deciding what to do with the carcass. You can read more here:  Dead whale a dilemma for officials .

2 weeks to go!

The official launch of TheExplodingWhale.com is just 2 weeks away and will roughly coincide with the 35th anniversary of Oregon’s Exploding Whale on Saturday, November 12, 2005! This site will go live a couple days earlier on Thursday, November 10, 2005.

Beached sperm whale spared being blown up

A 55-foot-long sperm whale that had beached itself on the South African coast died naturally a few hours after rescue attempts failed. Had the whale continued to live, a likely option would have been to euthanize it with explosives, something which has happened  multiple times in South Africa . Of course, it remains to be seen how they decide to dispose of the carcass…. Read the article here:  Beached whale dies near PE .

Exploding Python

There aren’t many exploding animals that  can’t  be described as “gross,” but this one — for whatever reason — really fits the bill. See what happens when a 13-foot Burmese python attempts to swallow a 6-foot alligator… in one bite. Not pretty. Read the whole story here:  Exploding Python

Nature’s Alternative

Here’s an article about nature’s alternative to blowing-up whale carcasses. I’ve never been one to doubt nature, but you wouldn’t be here if this site was called BoneDevouringWorms.com, would you? Well, ok, maybe you would…. Anyway, read the whole article here:  Whale Carcass Yields Bone-Devouring Worms

The Whale Coroner

I’ve posted an article about a man named Michael Moore (no, not  that  Michael Moore) who is a veterinarian and marine-mammal biologist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. He’s also known as “The Whale Coroner”.  When 40 feet and 80 tons of mammal turns up dead, whether it’s in the middle of the ocean surrounded by sharks or on the shore surrounded by gaping beachgoers, Michael Moore gets the call. That’s right! He’s the guy who gets the call  before  they decide to detonate the carcass! Read the whole article here:  The Whale Coroner .