Here at TheExplodingWhale.com, we love seeing people inspired by our favorite topic. Recently, banjoist, guitarist, and songwriter  Dan Tanz  was reminded of Oregon’s exploding whale by a friend, who later passed away. Inspiration comes in many forms. In memory of his friend, Dan did what comes naturally and wrote a song. He posted it to his YouTube channel,  Songwriter Circle .  And so without further ado, we present “The Exploding Whale Song,” performed and sung by Dan Tanz.

Prolific singer-songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Sufjan Stevens’ tour-only song “Exploding Whale” has made its way online. As Stevens says in the song, “Embrace the epic fail / Of my exploding whale.” Listen here first: Spin magazine and several other sites are also covering the release: Sufjan Stevens Shows Off His Electronic Side on ‘Exploding Whale’  – Spin Listen to Sufjan Stevens’ New Bonus Track, “Exploding Whale”   – Diffuser Sufjan Stevens Releases Non-Album Track “Exploding Whale”  – Pitchfork Sufjan Stevens shares new song “Exploding Whale” — listen  – Consequence of Sound

  Watch Charlize Theron Get Hit In The Face By An Exploding Whale On ‘Saturday Night Live’: “Saturday Night Live – Bikini Beach Party”  – NBC/Hulu

Two years ago, we brought you the  fascinating story  of some German and Swiss researchers who had investigated whether the carcasses of prehistoric “whales” (aka ichthyosaurs) ever exploded, which could explain why bone fossils are sometimes found scattered about instead of all together.  And today we have an update on their work. Here’s how we summarized their results in February 2012: In what has to be one of the most disappointing scientific results of the 21st century, the scientists conclude that ichthyosaur carcasses probably did not frequently explode and scatter bones. Rather, they conclude that dead prehistoric whale-like creatures would have sunk to the sea floor and would have only resurfaced when “they remained in shallow water above a certain temperature and at a low scavenging rate.” Subsequently, bone scattering would have supposedly occurred as the carcass floated around and decomposed gradually. Killjoys, we say! Here at TheExplodingWhale.com we simply r...

Here it is folks — a brand new tribute song for the Exploding Whale! Click the play button on the embedded SoundCloud player below and then read on to learn about the artist and his inspiration…. Johnny Stuka’s SoundCloud profile reads as follows: Johnny Stuka is the pilot of a stolen Stuka Dive Bomber that crashed into the English Channel in 1999. Fortunately his life raft inflated. Unfortunately, his whistle sunk to the bottom. Since then he has bobbed on the currents, occassionally sighting the white cliffs but always whilst being driven back out to sea by weather. More recently he has sighted France but is unsure how close he should go. Behind the cryptic myth of Johnny Stuka is London-based singer/songwriter John Harry Littleton-Stuka. John has played with numerous bands and musicians over the years, including London-based Stuka Dive Bomber during the 1990s and more recently the gypsy jazz outfit, Le Chutneys. But Littleton-Stuka says he’s always had a special place in his heart f...

  Oregon’s Exploding Whale continues to inspire creative types. Last year, the Exploding Whale was the subject of a   successful one-man show   and a   WikiWorld comic strip . And now   Abdul Hameed Gamiet   has released an animated retelling of the well-known incident. Gamiet used the audio track from the   the original video   and then created his own “reinterpreted” visuals. While the new visuals are occasionally humorous (if not reminiscent of  The Simpsons !), Gamiet’s decision to use the original newsreel’s audio track was a wise one. You just can’t beat Linnman’s deadpan delivery. The combination is an entertaining remake of an unrivaled classic.