On June 2, 2006, the U.S. Pentagon plans to detonate 700 tons of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil, which would make it the largest open-air, non-nuclear blast ever seen at the Nevada Test Site. The goal of the test is to aid in designing weapons that can reach weapons of mass destructions buried deep under solid rock.  Nevada weapons test plan blasted   – CNN.com Nevada Site Office   – U.S. Dept. of Energy Nevada Test Site Historical Foundation Nevada Test Site   – Wikipedia I just hope the Pentagon is prepared to fend off those crazy Oregon highway engineers from that mother lode!  For a fascinating collection of films about U.S.  nuclear  testing, we recommend the  Atomic Bomb Collection , which actually consists of three separate movies:  Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie ,  Nukes in Space – Rainbow Bombs , and  Atomic Journeys – Welcome to Ground Zero .

Did you know that  TheExplodingWhale.com  is home to (as far as we know) the world’s only organized discussion of the various ways in which whales explode? We call it our  Taxonomy of Cetacean Detonation . Now, in case you’re not really sure what that means, here’s a translation: Taxonomy  –  Division into ordered groups or categories. of Cetacean  –  Of, relating to, or belonging to the order Cetacea, which includes creatures such as whales, dolphins, and porpoises that are characterized by a nearly hairless body, anterior limbs modified into broad flippers, vestigial posterior limbs, and a flat notched tail. Detonation  –  The act of exploding. Now you’ve no reason to be afraid. Go take a  look  — you’ll probably learn something!

Scottish officials had planned to use dynamite to blow up the 47 ft. carcass of a dead sperm whale but later decided that the 30-ton leviathan would be hauled away and dumped in a local “rubbish tip” (disposal site). Prior to the whale’s death, it had become entangled in the anchor rope of a 19 ft. yacht occupied by Donald Morrison, 61. For nearly two hours, Morrison fought to untangle the rope from the whale, all while his small craft was being towed toward shore and repeatedly thrashed by the apparently suicidal whale. An exact cause of death for the whale had not yet been determined. Donald’s 50ft Whale of a Scare  –  The Press and Journal Rotting whale’s carcase may have to be blown up  –  The Scotsman Thar She Doesn’t Blow Up  –  The Daily Record THAR SHE DOESN’T BLOW UP Mar 7 2006 A COUNCIL decided not to blow up the rotting carcass of a 47ft whale that nearly sunk a yacht. Instead, Western Isles Council hired a low-loader lorry to transport the creat...

First they thought it was an old tree stump. Then they thought it was a cyst from a large marine animal. Eventually, they realized that they’d stumbled upon a 32-pound chunk of   ambergris   that could be worth in excess of $300,000! And they found it on a beach in western South Australia. Ambergris is a rare substance produced in the intestines of sperm whales. Scientists believe it is produced in order to aid in passing hard, bony materials that a whale may have consumed, such as squid beaks. However, chunks of it are occasionally belched out and set afloat in the world’s oceans. The material has a sweet, earthy odor that was prized by perfume makers before synthetic replacements were created.  Here are a couple articles covering this recent find: West Coast whale ‘vomit’ could be worth millions “Moby sick” find lands fragrant fortune  (see below) “Moby sick” find lands fragrant fortune Wed Jan 25, 2006 9:52 AM ET MELBOURNE (Reuters) – An Australian couple could re...

No explosions or man-made screw-ups to laugh at this time. No, unfortunately, this is just the sad story of a 5-ton northern bottle-nosed whale that somehow found itself swimming up the Thames River in England. From the river’s banks, people watched in awe as the 18-foot creature swam through towns and cities. As it became evident that the whale was disoriented and was unlikely to find its own way back to the sea, a rescue mission was put into action. Cradled by a giant sling with pontoons on each side, the whale was hoisted onto a barge and began its return trip to the Thames Estuary and the salty sea beyond. It began convulsing and died just a few miles from where it was to be freed. The BBC has a series of articles that cover the entire incident: Whale spotted in central London Thames whale amazes and intrigues Fears for health of Thames whale Lost whale dies after rescue bid Dead whale is examined by experts

Register-Guard  columnist  Bob Welch  is perhaps the Exploding Whale’s biggest fan (besides yours truly, of course). So it should come as no surprise that he couldn’t resist including one final reference to the whale in his last column of 2005 in which he recounted a list of the best quotes from the year. Bob selected a classic comment from the ever-entertaining  feedback pages where web surfers like yourself are encouraged to leave their thoughts and opinions about the Exploding Whale and this website. (Ironically, the entry he selected was actually from 1999. Shh! I won’t tell if you don’t!). You can read the column here:  “Some quotes to ponder from 2005” . After you’ve done that, why not  leave a comment of your own ?

Here at  TheExplodingWhale.com , part of our mission is to keep the whale in Christmas. With that in mind, we’d like to point out a couple of whale-related children’s holiday books:  The Christmas Whale  by Roger Duvoisin and  The Boy and the Whale  by Eric Metaxas.

An  article in the  The Daily Telegraph  newspaper of Sydney, Australia discusses plans to bury the carcass of a pygmy blue whale that recently washed up on an island near Perth. Because the island is a popular recreation and tourist area, officials decided to bury the carcass rather than tow it out to sea and risk attracting sharks to the area. However, there was one potential problem cited (emphasis ours): [Officials] said  if the whale exploded  because of a build up of gasses in the stomach the burial could take longer than the three days allocated. Oil from the dead whale already on the beach would take up to two to three months to disperse, but  if it did explode  more oil would be released and more sharks attracted, the authority said. You can read the short article here:  Dead whale to be buried  (or read quoted version below). And for additional information about putrefaction-related whale explosions, take a look at our  Taxonom...

Here’s a strange little story. A 17-year old boy in El Monte, California, rigged several ink pens to explode when the cap was removed. He then left the booby-trapped writing instruments around area high schools hoping to injure anyone who picked them up. His diabolical plot met with success on three occasions dating back to late August. Stumped detectives finally broke the case in early December after being contacted by an anonymous informant. Here are a couple articles:  Police Baffled by Booby-Trapped Pens Pen Explosions Suspect Arraignment Scheduled Interestingly, one can find similar (albeit less destructive) items at almost any magic or gag gift store! So, he doesn’t even get any points for creativity! Maybe next we’ll hear about some kid who is trying to electrocute people with a hand buzzer hooked up to a car battery.

I have not got my paws on a copy yet, but  Register-Guard   columnist  (and author, speaker, and teacher) Bob Welch — ardent fan of the Exploding Whale and whose  columns have made regular mention of it  — has a new book out called  My Oregon . Here’s Bob’s description: A collection of 100-plus Register-Guard columns written from 1999 through last August. Sections on what makes Oregon Oregon, seasons, sports, coast, heroes, losses, personal and adventure, including, of course, the three-part elk-hunting series in which I was bucked off a tame horse named Rusty. And I have it on good authority that our favorite Exploding Whale is covered. But of course! For the time being, the book is only available via  Bob’s website  or in a few local/regional bookstores (see list on Bob’s site).

Sadly, a beached humpback whale that rescuers had initially succeeded in returning to open water in Namibia, Africa, came ashore again and is now expected to die soon. Named Humphrey by the rescuers that kept the whale alive for two days before towing him back to sea, the humpback has suffered severe burns and possibly collapsed lungs. From the article: “The rescue team had considered putting an end to Humphrey’s misery but  they couldn’t get the dynamite needed to end his life. ” Exploding whale averted. Humpback Whale Remains Stuck in Lagoon At Walvis Bay Death Watch for Humphrey

On November 20, 1820, the American whaler  Essex  was attacked by an 80-ton sperm whale 2,000 miles off the western coast of South America. The 238-ton  Essex  was hunting sperm whales for the precious oil and bone that they possess when an angered bull whale rammed the ship twice, capsizing it. Twenty crew members managed to escape in three boats, but only five survived the 83-day journey to the coast of South America, where they were saved by other ships.  (Source:  The Worst-Case Scenario Daily Survival Calendar 2005 , published by Chronicle Books.)  If you have any interest in tales of human adventure and survival, I highly recommend reading  The Wreck of the Whaleship Essex  by the ship’s First Mate, Owen Chase. This amazing story was the real-life inspiration for Melville’s  Moby Dick .

Happy 35th anniversary to Oregon’s Exploding Whale!  I think Bob Welch put it best in his  recent column :  This story isn’t about death. It’s about a whale that refuses to die. A whale that lives on. Lives on indeed! News coverage of the anniversary continues… Bob Welch: Tale of flying blubber keeps bubbling up  –  RegisterGuard.com  (reproduced locally; link to  original article ) The (True) Legend of the Exploding Whale  –  About.com The 35th Anniversary of The Exploding Whale  –  Bend.com Reporter Tells Story of Exploding Whale, Again  (transcript available  here ) –  NPR.org

We just want to extend a warm welcome to our fellow Oregonians who are visiting our new and improved Exploding Whale website after reading  Bob Welch ‘s column in today’s  Register-Guard  newspaper.  The column  profiles this website in honor of this Saturday’s 35th anniversary of Oregon’s Exploding Whale (November 12, 2005). We’re very excited that you are among the very first to see our new and improved site, which we are officially launching today! If you are not familiar with Oregon’s exploding whale, make sure to click through the drop-down links in the  First-time visitor?   section. If you’re an EW veteran, we’ve added a ton of new content, including all the old  newspaper articles from November, 1970 , and a catalog of  other exploding whales .  For a more detailed history of this website, take a look at our  About this site  page. Then, have a look around and  leave a few words on our feedback page . Most importan...

Bowhead whale Eskimos are being armed with a new type of harpoon-mounted grenade that is supposedly more “effective” at killing the Bowhead whales they hunt. The new Penthrite grenades, which replace 19th century “black powder” grenades, supposedly reduce the time it takes to “humanely” kill one of these massive creatures — which grow to be 50-60 feet long and weigh 80-110 tons — from 60 minutes to 15 minutes. The two types of grenades accomplish their goal differently. Black powder is a slow-burning explosive that generally kills by causing hemorrhage. If a whale is struck near a vital organ, death can be swift. But multiple strikes sometimes are needed, endangering crews in traditional, wooden-ribbed boats as a bowhead thrashes in icy seas. On the other hand:  Once the [penthrite] grenade penetrates the whale’s skin and explodes, it produces a concussion that lethally shocks the central nervous system. It’s taken until now for the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission to come up with ...

On this day in 1952, the United States detonated the  world’s first thermonuclear weapon  on Eniwetok atoll in the Pacific Ocean. More commonly known as the hydrogen bomb, this new weapon was approximately 1,000 times more powerful than conventional nuclear devices. Testing the weapon gave the United States a short-lived advantage in its nuclear arms race with the Soviet Union, which had successfully detonated an atomic device in September of 1949. The H-bomb completely vaporized the island of Elugelab in the Eniwetok Atoll.  (Source:  The Worst-Case Scenario Daily Survival Calendar 2005 , published by Chronicle Books.)

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 .

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.

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 .

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

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

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 .

With the 35th anniversary of the  Exploding Whale  rapidly approaching, I’ve renewed my efforts on getting this new site up and running. If all goes as planned, the new site will be released in conjunction with the anniversary. And there’s at least one other surprise in order that will be coordinated with the anniversary and release of the new site, but for now it will remain a surprise.

An all new and improved exploding whale website is coming soon!