As the  Register-Guard ‘s resident exploding whale-lover,  Bob Welch  has written about Oregon’s exploding whale several times. See what happened when he recently asked readers to submit their  top 4 made-in-Oregon movies .

Has anyone seen the new movie,   Reno 911!: Miami ? Apparently, the “Reno 911” crew blows up the carcass of a dead whale they find on Miami’s South Beach. There’s a reference to it in the following Chicago  Herald News interview with two of the actors. Dangle and Junior recounted the rest of their life-altering experiences from the Miami adventure — ranging from staying in seedy motels to coping with south Florida’s unrelenting humidity to hauling a dead whale’s carcass across South Beach. Q.   About that whale? Dangle:  Now, just so you know. That whale was totally, completely and ABSOLUTELY dead when we got there. Junior:  That’s right! There is no offense in blowing up something that was already dead. That dang thing was like 10 tons of rotting blubber. I thought blowing it up was a great idea! Dangle:  We expedited this beached whale from the place that it was at … to a different state. By a different state, I mean from a solid mass to a light mist of b...

Earlier this year,  we pointed out an article  that suggested that the Exploding Whale may have been the first example of a viral video. Now the  BBC is reporting  that our beloved Exploding Whale video — which you can watch  right here  — is the fifth most watched viral video on the web! On the whale, they have this to say: A TV news clip from 1970 of an exploding whale – in which giant pieces of whale blubber rained down on people a quarter of a mile away – has been viewed 350 million times and earned its own website. The article says that marketing company  The Viral Factory  has “collated page impression figures from websites such as YouTube” in order to determine how many times several very popular web videos have been viewed. Here’s their ranking of the videos (and estimated number of views): TOP TEN VIRAL VIDEOS Star Wars Kid (900m) Numa Numa (700m) One Night In Paris (400m) Kylie Minogue for Agent Provocateur (360m) The Exploding Whale (35...

I recently had the opportunity to visit the  Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, CA. In the main hall is a life-size model of a blue whale, which is believed to be the largest animal to have ever lived on Earth.  According to  Wikipedia , the model is 88 feet long and represents the average size of female blue whales. However, the largest blue whales approach 100 feet long and weigh close to 200 tons!

Just a quick blurb to make sure that the 36th anniversary of Oregon’s Exploding Whale does not go unnoticed. It was on November 12, 1970, that the Oregon Highway Division detonated a half-ton of dynamite around the rotting carcass of a sperm whale… and made history.  The date also marks the first anniversary of our newly designed website, which  we launched a year ago in conjunction with a newspaper column featuring our website . Keep telling your family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, and anyone else you can think of about the Exploding Whale. As long as they keep visiting, we’ll keep our site up and running.  PS: If you haven’t watched the exploding whale video in a while, you should do so today:  click to play the video .

Oregon’s Exploding Whale was once again mentioned in a  news story about the arrival of a 50-foot whale carcass to the Port of Everett in Washington State .  The advanced state of decay initially made it difficult to identify the type of whale, though experts now believe it was a fin whale. This is the second specimen of this endangered and rarely-seen whale to come ashore in Washington in less than six months. (The carcass of another fin whale washed up on a Washington beach  last May .) As with the last one, researchers believe the whale had been struck by a ship. However, it was also entangled in such a way that it had likely been unable to feed for weeks or possibly months.  The whale was found when dock workers complained of a foul smell coming from under the dock.  Oregon’s Exploding Whale was also referenced:  Whale remains often are treated like gangland snitches – left to decompose on remote beaches, hastily buried, or brought to deep water, weight...

The bloated carcass of a gigantic 54-foot humpback whale washed ashore on a beach in the southwest corner of Washington State. Staff from a nearby aquarium believe the whale has been dead for some time. On Friday, whale experts are expected to conduct a necropsy in order to determine how the whale died. Following this, Washington State Parks officials plan to bury the 15-ton leviathan on the beach. No exploding whale here, I’m afraid! Dead whale washes up on Wash. Coast   – KGW 54-Foot Whale Carcass Washes Ashore   – KOIN Rare giant lands ashore, drawing gawkers and scientific interest   – The Oregonian Sea Creatures Shock Beach Goers in Oregon and Washington   – Salem-News.com A whale’s death draws the curious   – Seattle Times Scientists race the tide for whale   – The Oregonian Humpback whale carcass to be buried on beach   – KATU A whale of an event   – Chinook Observer

The  University of Oregon   Computer & Information Science Department  has published a short article about my involvement with the Exploding Whale in their  alumni  newsletter. The whole article can be found in the  Related Stories  section of our site and via this link: Strange Hobby, New Baby Tie ’90s Alumni to Oregon   – UO CIS Alumni Newsletter, Summer 2006

Another load of ambergris was found recently by Melissa Cathcart, a young British girl who was vacationing on a beach in Wales in the United Kingdom. The lump was reportedly valued at between $6,000-$7,000. It is currently unclear whether Cathcart will be able to profit from her rare find. You may remember our   previous report   on an Australian couple who found a much larger hunk of ambergris worth in excess of $300,000. In that case, the couple was unable to sell it commercially since Australian law prohibits trading in whale products of any kind. Girl in Wales finds lucky whale vomit   – UPI A Whale-y sick fortune   – icWales.co.uk

Animation by  KATU Another chapter in Oregon’s illustrious history of blowing stuff up was written at 7am on May 21, 2006 — a Sunday morning. 2,800 pounds of explosives were packed into about 3,000 separate holes drilled into the lower half of the cooling tower at the  Trojan Nuclear Plant . (Yes, the plant was defunct prior to detonation!) According to  Controlled Demolition Inc. , which handled the implosion, the Trojan tower is the largest in the nation to be destroyed. The plant closed in 1993 for financial and safety reasons after just 17 years of service. It was Oregon’s first and only nuclear power plant. The State of Oregon has a proud history of blowing stuff up. Of course, this website focuses on the beloved  Exploding Whale  of 1970. And in 1999, when the 639-foot  New Carissa  — loaded with 140,000 gallons of bunker oil — ran aground on the Oregon coast, part of the “solution” was to blow it up, too! (No,  we are not making this up !) ...

It’s been a tough week for the endangered fin whale. Two dead whales, one on each coast of the United States, have been attracting significant attention. We start in Delaware and then move west to Washington state.  Delaware struggles with 35 tons of dead whale Residents of the Delaware coast are struggling with how to dispose of a giant whale carcass that came ashore on May 13. As the second largest creature on the planet (next to the blue whale), it should come as no surprise that crews using ropes to move the 35-ton, 55-foot fin whale encountered problems — even  after  the rotting hulk was dissected into smaller pieces, which included decapitating the dead beast. According to Suzanne Thurman, executive director of the non-profit  Marine Education, Research and Rehabilitation Institute , “The ropes (used to drag the whale) keep breaking. We’re waiting for a chain and we have a rope on loan from a barge towing company.” Once the chains and other equipment arrive, w...

Paul Linnman, the intrepid TV news reporter behind the  exploding whale video , retired from TV in 2004 and now works at Oregon  radio station KEX . In a recent article,  The Oregonian  newspaper asked several well-known Oregonians, including Linnman, about their coffee habits. Linnman started his comments by saying: I have only two remaining addictions: Coffee and ice cream, and I’m hooked on both for life. About the coffee provided by the radio station, Paul says: KEX provides very acceptable coffee, but I prefer to brew (with a Krups cone drip) my own each morning (around 3:30 a.m.) and pack my thermos to the radio station. It has to be Peet’s and it has to be French blend. Like many in the Northwest, Linnman clearly loves his coffee. For his afternoon “pick-me-up,” Paul downs a 12-ounce Americano with “two shots of espresso, the rest water… but only half-filled with water.” (As a non-coffee drinker, I’m not even sure what that means!)  Finally, when Linnman ...

TheExplodingWhale.com was mentioned in a  recent article  on the  Salt Lake Tribune  newspaper’s website. The article, titled  Viral Videos: Spread of Internet video clips is catching , points to the infamous 1970  exploding whale video (which, of course, is the focus of this site) as an early example of a so-called “viral video.” The author explains: More than five years ago, people were sharing an uproarious video, a 1970 TV news report from Portland of a beached whale carcass that authorities blew up into fleshy chunks (one falling piece actually struck a parked car). That sequence is now so famous it has its own fan Web site,  http://www.theexplodingwhale.com . Five years? It’s been at least  ten  years because my involvement with the Exploding Whale dates all the way back to the early 1990s, and I know I wasn’t the first one to see it! (For a history of this website, please see our  About this site  page.) No matter, is it poss...

The staff at the   Somerset County Gazette   newspaper in, of all places,   Somerset County, England , decided to play an April Fool’s Day joke on their readers. They ran a fake article titled   Beached whale draws crowds to Taunton park   in which they claimed a whale, named “Gotcha” by locals, “tugged itself out of the water and shuffled up the bank, across the foopath and onto the main grassed area” of a city park. Despite claims that whales can live out of water for up to a week and are actually quite friendly, “Gotcha” was purported to have eaten one woman’s Yorkshire Terrier. In response, a local farmer was hired to bring in a “fresh supply of newborn lambs” to satisfy the whale’s appetite. The next day, the newspaper ran   a story letting its readers off the hook   and asking to hear from anyone who fell for the joke and tried to go see the whale.   We’ll keep you posted. In the meantime, here are links to the two articles: Beached whale dr...

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 ...