CNN ‘s  News To Me  program, which covered the Exploding Whale  back in February , is now having a contest to determine which segments will appear in their self-proclaimed “blockbuster special” on May 17.  Obviously, I’d like to encourage you to  vote for the Exploding Whale ! So go do it. Now. What are you waiting for? I’ll still be here when you come back. Go on now. Vote for the Whale!

A: When you use explosives to get rid of a dead one! Last week’s story of how the U.S. military shot down a satellite carrying toxic rocket fuel brought at least a couple comparisons to Oregon’s Exploding Whale. The military had lost control of the crippled satellite in late 2006 shortly after it was launched. The bus-sized hulk was finally threatening to fall out of orbit, and people’s lives were at stake should the fuel tank, or any amount of the one thousand pounds of unused hydrazine rocket fuel it contains, return to Earth. In order to minimize the amount of material that might be left in space, the government waited until just before the satellite was ready to fall out of orbit before conducting its operation. The goal was to blast the satellite into as many small pieces as possible, and to have those smaller pieces burn up as they entered the Earth’s atmosphere.  Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? At least they weren’t expecting sea birds to eat up all the small pieces! Anyway, Bo...

Much to my surprise, one of the Exploding Whale limericks I submitted to  Bob Welch ‘s  Oregon limerick contest  was  chosen as the winner  from the 286 submissions! This clearly says more about the unending appeal of the Exploding Whale story than it does about my ability to rhyme, but I am honored nonetheless. As detailed in a  previous post , four other would-be poets were sufficiently inspired by the Exploding Whale to make similar submissions — again testimony to the enduring nature of the story! So, for the record, here is my winning limerick: Florence is home to a tale surreal In which a dead whale stunk a great deal Boom! went the dynamite One chunk took quite a flight And crushed Walter’s new Oldsmobile. Of course, “Walter” is Walter Umenhofer, whose brand new Oldsmobile 88 was crushed by a huge piece of flying whale meat following the explosion. Walter is mentioned in several of the newspaper articles covering the incident (e.g.,  1 ,  2...

Well, it certainly didn’t take long for the Exploding Whale to make an appearance on  Register-Guard  columnist  Bob Welch ‘s  blog ! I mean, seriously, what do you think he expected when, in honor of Oregon’s 149th birthday (which was on Valentine’s Day, February 14), Welch  asked his readers to submit limericks honoring the state’s places and geographic features?  Well, I for one felt  obligated  to submit  something  related to the Exploding Whale. And apparently, I was not alone. In addition to my three entries, four other readers were moved to poetry by our beloved cetacean detonation. Please, feel free to read through  all 286 submissions . Or, at the end of this entry, you can read just the limericks that referenced the Exploding Whale.  From the 286 submissions, Bob will pick the top three and award them gift certificates to a local book store. In addition, the best limericks will be published in his February 21st colum...

Just a quick heads up to let you know that  Register-Guard columnist and longtime admirer of Oregon’s Exploding Whale  Bob Welch  has officially entered the Blogosphere with his new RG blog titled  Close to Home with Bob Welch . Welch has written several columns ( 1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6 ,  7 ,  8 ,  9 ,  10 ,  11 ) about or referencing the Exploding Whale, and hopefully we’ll see periodic mention of it in his blog as well. Welcome, Bob!

The  CNN  program  News to Me  recently aired  a segment on Oregon’s Exploding Whale . In addition to the original  KATU video , the piece features clips from interviews with Paul Linnman and Doug Brazil, the reporter and cameraman who in 1970 documented the momentous event. While the video contains a brief, unattributed screen shot of  our Dave Barry page , TheExplodingWhale.com is, unfortunately, not directly featured. (And why not?) But the  animation by Abdul Hameed Gamiet  and the  comic strip by Greg Williams  — both covered on TheExplodingWhale.com in recent months — were featured prominently in the story.

One of the Exploding Whale’s biggest proponents strikes again!  Bob Welch , a columnist for the  Register-Guard (Eugene, OR), profiles Walter Umenhofer, the gentleman whose brand new Oldsmobile 88 was crushed by a 300-pound piece of dead whale sent skyward when the Oregon Highway Division detonated 20 cases of dynamite underneath a rotting whale carcass (see  video ). Mr. Umenhofer, now 75, has long been one of the most intriguing, if reluctant, characters in the saga of the Exploding Whale. He has largely avoided interviews and little is known about his opinion of the incident. “It’s funny,” [Umenhofer] says. “That was one big piece of blubber. It hit so hard that it bent my roof down and pushed the back of the seats to the floor.” Unfortunately, Bob’s interview, which is part of his “Where Are They Now?” series, is pretty brief. Walter does share one humorous tidbit: when he purchased his brand new Olds, the car dealer was using the motto, “Come to us for a whale of a d...

  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.

On the 37th anniversary of Oregon’s Exploding Whale, radio host and former exploding whale reporter Paul Linnman interviewed Chicago stand-up comic Chris Gummert, whose one-man show on the exploding whale is currently playing at the Apollo Theater in Chicago (as  previously   reported ).  From the interview:  It is equal parts, I think, research project and stand-up. It incorporates the original video as well as videos about dynamite and the history of dynamite. And so it’s a pretty in-depth view of those things. TheExplodingWhale.com has added a transcript of Linnman’s interview to its evidence collection. It can be accessed through the following link: Linnman interviews comic behind exploding whale one-man show (11/12/07)

WikiWorld cartoonist  Greg Williams   drew a comic about Oregon’s exploding whale, presumably in celebration of the anniversary. I particularly appreciated the facial expression on reporter Paul Linnman’s face in the first pane of the comic. To see Paul’s expression and the rest of strip, click through on the thumbnail or the link below. WikiWorld comic: “Exploding whale”

On this, the 37th anniversary of Oregon’s Exploding Whale, let us engage in a little thought experiment. For a moment, just pause and reflect upon all those things in your life that you take way too seriously… that cause you to lose sleep or to sleep too much… that create stress and anxiety in your life. Consider those times where you’ve been so focused on what is wrong or what you find offensive or what you take too personally. Examine those attitudes that lead to denial, delusion, and defiance.  And now ask yourself:  Wherein lies the good? Wherein lies the happiness? Wherein lies the humor? For me, the Exploding Whale embodies this view of life and the world around us. Sure, this sounds silly, but it’s really a classic example of the thought experiment above. I’ve always been intrigued by the dichotomy induced by the events of November 12, 1970. Some people immediately see the hilarity, folly, and absurdity of what happened, while others see it only as tragic and depressing...

As  previously reported …. Countdown: The Story of the Exploding Whale  continues its phenomenally funny run at the Apollo Theater on Wednesday nights at 8pm through the end of November. The hilarious new multi-media, one-man show from writer/comedian Chris Gummert unravels the true story of a beached whale that was disposed of using a half-ton of dynamite in 1970. The resulting explosion sent blubber flying and totaled a car a quarter of a mile away. The news footage of the disposal has since gone on to become the fifth most watched video on the Internet, according to the BBC. In this painstakingly researched show Gummert utilizes an exciting range of storytelling techniques and technology to uncover a truly bizarre tale; a tale that touches on unwanted presents, stolen teeth, a brief history of dynamite and the importance of scheduling vacation days in advance. Countdown also covers modern disposal techniques utilized around the globe and discusses additional whale disposals...

Southern California has recently been confronted with figuring out how best to dispose of a huge, 60-ton blue whale carcass. The rotting hulk was towed into harbor for examination by scientists on September 22, and after being dissected and having several internal organs removed, the whale was towed out to sea. A few days later, it washed up on a Malibu beach where lifeguards had a go out at the stinking leviathan. They also tried towing it out to sea in hopes that it would sink, but as of October 4, it had returned to a Malibu sandbar. A  recent article  in the  LA Times  did a nice job of surveying the undesirable disposal options. Naturally, Oregon’s Exploding Whale was cited early on in the article: What to do with a dead whale is no small problem…. Blow it up and you just might end up showering blubber on hapless spectators, as did the state of Oregon in a 1970 incident still kept pungently alive on the Internet and in columns by humorist Dave Barry. (“pungently...

Chris Gummert The Oregon exploding whale has had quite a life: first, the original news reel followed by endless anniversary pieces… then Dave Barry’s hilarious article… and recently it became the 5th most popular video on the web. Can Broadway be far behind? Not if Chris Gummert has anything to say about it. Gummert has written a one man show about the event called  Countdown: The Story of the Exploding Whale  that is making it’s Chicago debut on October 10th, 2007. “This is such a great theater city,” Gummert said. “I’m thrilled to be putting the show up in Chicago,”  Gummert debuted his multi-media performance earlier this year at the  Iowa Fringe Festival  to  rave reviews … even from some of his harshest critics. “I think my mom might have broken down and smiled during this show,” Gummert enthused. “Ebert and Roeper have got NOTHING on that rating!”  Gummert plans on touring the show extensively throughout the next year and a half. Information abo...

“Well, I wouldn’t exactly call it an explosion, but it can be like an enormous fart. It would be quite unpleasant if the stomach blows up. It’s not very nice to have rotten whale parts showering over you.” These comments were made by Tore Haug of the  Norwegian Marine Research Institute  in Bergen as he described a very foul-smelling whale carcass that has found its way into a Norwegian fjord.  Mr. Haug certainly sounds as though he’s rather well-schooled in our favorite topic. Unfortunately, much of Norway is “familiar” with whales in a way that defies the international community. Perhaps this is how the whales strike back against Norway’s ongoing  commercial whaling  industry. As for the photo, I’m honestly not even sure what it’s showing. Apparently, the entire exterior of the whale carcass has turned completely white. And it really stinks. Crews were trying to prevent it from making landfall by towing it our of the fjord. Meanwhile, several jurisdictions and...

In this AP photo, the giant, swollen tongue of a dead humpback whale appears close to exploding. Alas, it did not. The ballooning organ did, however, contribute to the whale’s death. While some officials initially said the swollen tongue indicated an infection, experts now believe that a large volume of air may have been forced into the 40-foot leviathan’s tongue after it was struck by a ship. The whale apparently survived the supposed impact, though, as it was seen by a tour boat and two ferries struggling to swim. Forced onto its side at the surface by its own tongue-pontoon, the whale was observed having difficulty getting its blow hole above water in order to breathe. The humpback carcass washed up on the west side of Admiralty Island in Southeast Alaska, officials said. Links to the original article and a larger photo follow: Death of Swollen-Tongued Whale Probed   – washingtonpost.com (Larger photo)   – washingtonpost.com

Way up in the northwestern corner of Oregon is the small town of  Clatskanie . Despite being over 200 miles away from where Oregon’s infamous whale made its debut, it lays claim to its own unique connections to the Exploding Whale.  In an editorial in  The Clatskanie Chief , publisher and editor Deborah Steele Hazen writes, “There are many far-flung paths that begin, end or cross in Clatskanie.” One of those paths involves Jack Sweeney, who, in a six-degrees-of-Kevin-Bacon kind of way, is intrinsically linked to the exploding whale through his relationships with two key players in that drama. It turns out that Sweeney was classmates with George Thornton — the highway engineer in charge of the detonation — in Clatskanie High School’s class of 1947. And then at some point, Sweeney relocated to Eugene and became neighbors with none other than Walter Umenhofer, the poor guy whose 1969 Oldsmobile was crushed by a large piece of flying whale blubber following the explosion. Rec...

Register-Guard  columnist and perennial exploding whale enthusiast  Bob Welch  has once again referenced Oregon’s exploding whale in one of his columns.  In  “Dozer, not dynamite, eases whale’s final passage”  — part of his “Where are they now?” series — Welch discusses the fate of the  40-foot gray whale that recently washed up on Oregon’s coast  just a few miles north of where  Oregon’s original exploding whale  met its infamous end. He says: First, rest easy: The whale was not blown up with dynamite, one of those seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time methods used in 1970 in Florence — that wound up busting car windshields and triggering lawsuits. He goes on to explain how the recent whale was pushed 100 yards to a sandy location, buried, exposed by the next high tide, and then finally reburied above the high-tide line. The column has been added to our newspaper article section here: “Dozer, not dynamite…” (7/2/07)   – TheExplodingW...

On Sunday, May 27, 2007, the carcass of a 40-foot California Gray Whale washed up on a beach near Seal Rock, Oregon, a mere 40 or so miles north of where Oregon’s  original exploding whale incident occurred. Scientists have been unable to determine a cause of death. The whale will be buried in a nearby sandy area. Gray Whale’s death probed by scientists  (or  watch video ) – KOMO 40-foot whale washes up on Oregon coast  (or  watch slideshow )  – KGW Giant Carcass Washes Ashore  – KOIN Dead 40-foot whale washes ashore near Newport   – The Oregonian Dead whale attracts curious onlookers  (includes link to video)  – KATU Police: Stop taking parts of dead whale   – KATU Officials on Oregon Coast tell tourists: Hands off the dead whale   – KTVZ Oregon State Police Looking for Those Taking Dead Whale Parts  – Salem-News.com Authorities search for scavengers who took parts from a dead whale   – The Oregonian Touching Dead Or...

A United States Coast Guard crew based on the Big Island of Hawaii attempted to sink a bloated whale carcass found floating outside Hilo Harbor by firing more than 30 rounds into it from an M-16 rifle. It didn’t work. The lieutenant in charge explained that this method “does not appear to have worked very well right now, but in time it may.” I think we all know a  another  way to deal with that carcass! Unfortunately, using explosives may have left the half-dozen tiger sharks, each measuring 12 to 17 feet long, as unnecessary collateral.  Whale carcass drifts off Big Island   – Honolulu Advertiser Whale Carcass Attracts Sharks, Endangers Boaters   – KITV

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!