Nuke the Whales

Red background with an illustration of green waves and a white mushroom cloud; green text is overlaid over the illustration. 

In November 1970, the community of Florence, Oregon faced a problem: a dead sperm whale, eight tons heavy and forty-five feet long, had washed up on the beach shore and was decomposing. The Oregon State Highway Division considered multiple options, but decided that using dynamite to vaporize the whale would be the correct course of action. Unfortunately, for the community and the spectators who came to witness the event, not enough explosives were used, resulting in an eruption of whale blubber and viscera landing in the area, even crushing a car. As no one was injured, the event became a humorous misstep that may have been the inspiration for cultural references such as in an episode of the television show The Simpsons and whose anniversary prompts interviews with the reporter who was present, reporting the case, and caught the footage for the news.