Thar She Blows!

[xraytheenforcer]

Due to a series of emails about the fate of another dead whale recently in the news, my colleague Bjorn reminded me of the existence of one of the greatest videos ever recorded. I am posting it here because, incredibly, Doug claims to have never seen nor heard of it. My own history with the video goes back many years -- at least to 1996 and possibly before -- and I am sure that others on my flist who were serious Usenet junkies back in the day (smofbabe ?, daveax ?) can remember when the video first surfaced.

Anyway, this video illustrates what happens when you mix one 8-ton dead sperm whale, 1/2 ton of dynamite and the Oregon Department of Transportation (because, when it comes to dead whale disposal, the DOT is top on the list of experts). Do be sure to listen to the video with the sound on -- the news reporter's verbiage and the crowd's reaction are priceless.

The video is SFW and not gory, but if you're an especially sensitive soul, do be prepared for the inevitable result of whale + dynamite.

Comments

[misunderstruck.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's hilarious.

Obviously they should have just nuked it from orbit in the first place.

[xraytheenforcer.livejournal.com]

can you imagine it? covered in radioactive stinking whale blubber. aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh

[racebannon42.livejournal.com]

Win.

[xraytheenforcer.livejournal.com]

I almost wish I had been alive and around to witness this for myself. hahaha

[luzisrighthand.livejournal.com]

That video is always amusing to watch.
Maybe they should have tried a tactical nuke?

[xraytheenforcer.livejournal.com]

They should have recruited Putin.

[luzisrighthand.livejournal.com]

He would have turned the whale corpse into a flying zombie whale and used it to hunt terrorists.

[ildrinn.livejournal.com]

or pirates.

[regina-of-york.livejournal.com]

I can't imagine the combination of dynamite and whale corpse not being gory...

*backs away from link fearfully*

Yes, I'm a wuss.

[xraytheenforcer.livejournal.com]

It's really not at all gory, because the camera is a quarter of a mile away when the blast goes off.

[yagathai.livejournal.com]

Ah yes, I remember it well.

[xraytheenforcer.livejournal.com]

Even after all of these years, it's still funny.

[nobleds.livejournal.com]

I LOVE the fact that you can hear the plops and splats of whale chunks hitting the ground, like a giant mammalian rain shower!!

[zollo-the-fat.livejournal.com]

Yep, sound effects one on one. Awesome!

[racebannon42.livejournal.com]

I've blown up a lot of stuff in my day, a Whale is not amongst them. I'd kinda like to try now though.

[zollo-the-fat.livejournal.com]

I am sure they have some vacancies in that department in Japan.

[angalin.livejournal.com]

I'm having a Douglas Adams moment, minus the flowerpots.

[weakwiththedawn.livejournal.com]

I just referenced this video not too long ago, mind reader!
The news reporter always cracks me up.

[terraprime.livejournal.com]

Sometimes, I'm stunned by the lack of mental facility of my fellow humans.

Blowing up the dead carcass of a whale using dynamites? Really? One minute and 10 seconds into the clip I am already cringing.

Good grief.

[xraytheenforcer.livejournal.com]

It makes a twisted kind of sense. Both boulders and dead whales are large, heavy, difficult-to-move objects. The DOT deals with boulders every day. They do so with dynamite. Therefore, calling in the DOT to dynamite the whale is as logical as any of the other options they had. But, like many good, logical ideas, something went horribly awry...hahaha.

[daveax.livejournal.com]

The incident occurred back in November, 1970, but I don't think the footage made it to net circulation before the late 80s or early 90s -- basically, not until higher-bandwidth connections were beginning to become available. Downloading a file like this on a 56K modem just didn't make sense, y'know.

The bit in the video showing the blubber-battered car reminds me of another event. The Jersey Turnpike has, for many years now, run right by Newark Airport. Back in the late sixties, one of the incoming flight paths actually ran directly above the NJTP for a stretch. There were even landing guide lights in the center median of the road.

A co-worker of mine, around 1970, was driving up to NYC via the Turnpike. As he cruised along in his VW Beetle on that particular stretch of road, an incoming plane using that landing path lowered its landing gear. One of the plane's tires came loose and dropped onto his car's roof. Luckily for him, it hit the passenger side of the car -- the dent in the roof was over 8 inches deep, and had he been under it, the one in his skull wouldn't have been much less so.

[xraytheenforcer.livejournal.com]

damn...that's insane about the airplane wheel! O_o

[smofbabe.livejournal.com]

As you can imagine, it's one of Stephen's favorites :->

[xraytheenforcer.livejournal.com]

I am *so* not shocked. hahaha.

[revsaintmichael.livejournal.com]

Here's a love poem about the exploding whale

Yup.

[skylarkthered.livejournal.com]

Well, it likely did speed up the process of deterioration and rot and probably aided the scavengers in consuming/removing the whale faster, so in a way, it worked. :p

[enjai-pearson.livejournal.com]

"Fuck you whales! Fuck you Dorfins!!!" :)

I just love it when men see an oppurtunity to blow shit up. The look on the guy's face as he is placing the dynamite by the whale is priceless. This would have been a Top Gear special if it hadn't already been done by these guys in the 70s.

I do like the final summary; it's good that we learn from our mistakes and adjust them accordingly.