Fifty Years Later, Oregon Town Embraces 1970 Whale Blast Disaster as Official Park
In November 1970, Oregon highway crews used half a ton of dynamite to remove a dead sperm whale from a Florence beach, resulting in a chaotic explosion that scattered blubber across the area. The incident, which crushed a spectator's car, became a viral internet legend and led to the creation of the Exploding Whale Memorial Park in 2020.