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  • This is a completely true story...
    People come to the Exploding Whale from so many different directions. Not surprisingly, many are often unsure of the event's authenticity. Some see the widely-distributed 1990 article by syndicated humor columnist Dave Barry and think that great artistic license was taken in his retelling. (It wasn't.) Some have seen stories in the newspaper or on TV and think a local reporter has been duped. (They haven't been.) Some people assume the whale was alive and come to protest such cruelty. (The whale was definitely dead.) And there are the lucky few who stumble upon it purely by accident....
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  • It happened on November 12, 1970...
    The carcass of a sperm whale (often reported as a grey whale) had been rotting on the beach just south of Florence, Oregon, USA, for several days. At the time, the Oregon Highway Division (now called the Oregon Department of Transportation) had jurisdiction over beaches and decided to dispose of the whale the same way they would clear a large boulder from a highway construction project. The rest is, as they say, history.
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  • And there's a video...
    In case there was any doubt in your mind as to whether this really happened or not, then-reporter Paul Linnman from KATU Channel 2 in Portland, Oregon, and his photographer Doug Brazil were on the scene and captured this incredible event on film. The surreal images, dry humor, and deadpan delivery of the narrative are unforgettable.
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  • Not just a video, though...
    The video is just the beginning. The purpose of this website is to collect all the evidence, resources, and events related to the Exploding Whale, including newspaper articles, transcripts, reading lists, accounts of other exploding whales (yes, there's been more than one!), and more.
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• Watch the Videos NEW! Multiple streamed videos now available!

  
  
  • Additional Resources
    • Dave Barry’s "Farside" article
    • ODT Employee Newspaper article
    • Annotated transcript of the video
  • 1970 Newspaper Articles
    • "Gulls to dine on whale" (11/11/70)
    • "A whale of a whale…" (11/12/70)
    • "When they blow up a whale…" (11/13/70)
    • "A dead whale is worse…" (11/15/70)
    • "Who pays when…" (11/17/70)
    • "Flying blubber claim paid" (11/23/70)
  • More Newspaper Articles
    • 25th anniversary article (11/12/95)
    • Bob Welch Columns
      • "Little known but key…" (2/14/02)
      • "Newspaper loses two…" (2/6/03)
      • "Artist’s work puts…" (1/20/04)
      • "Loving Oregon…" (2/12/04)
      • "Temporary span…" (5/20/04)
      • "A televised dream or…" (8/3/04)
      • 35th anniversary: "Tale of flying blubber…" (11/10/05)
      • "Some quotes to ponder from 2005" (12/27/05)
      • "And the top Oregon movie goes to …" (2/25/07)
      • "Dozer, not dynamite…" (7/2/07)
      • "It’s Still Whale of a Tale…" (1/14/08)
      • "Limerick loot goes to whale…" (2/21/08)
    • "Washed up fin whale…" (3/9/09)
    • 40th anniversary articles & videos (11/12/10)
  • Paul Linnman
    • Paul Linnman ends TV career (8/19/04)
    • 35th anniversary interview (11/12/05)
    • Linnman interviews comic behind exploding whale one-man show (11/12/07)
    • Whale video rebroadcast for KATU 50th anniversary (3/15/2012)
  • Anniversary articles & interviews

• Is this one of the funniest things ever? Or are you appalled? Let us know what you think and then see what others have said.
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  • Archives
    • 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002
    • 2001, 2000, 1999

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  This is the definitive source, written by the TV news reporter who covered the Exploding Whale in 1970.

  The syndicated newspaper columnist retells his famous version of the Exploding Whale in a chapter of this book.

• Exploding whales are more common than one might think, and they actually come in several different forms. In order to get some perspective on the topic, consider the following guide:

  • A Taxonomy of Cetacean Detonation

  Then, examine some of the following pages, or use our exclusive interactive exploding whale locator map below:

  WARNING: Some of these pages contain images that may be disturbing or offensive.

  • Australia (7/31/2001)
  • South Africa (8/7/2001)
  • South Africa (8/21/2001)
  • South Africa (9/24/2003)
  • Taiwan (1/26/2004)
  • South Africa (9/20/2004)
  • California, USA (8/18/2005)
  • South Africa (9/14/2005)
  • Australia (9/30/2008)
  • Australia (9/2/2010)
  • South Africa (9/29/2010)

Exploding Whale Locator Map

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• For the most part, the following stories each relate to the Exploding Whale because they involve either whales or explosions.

  • 1999
    • The New Carissa (Coming soon!)
  • 2003
    • Chilean Sea Blob (Coming soon!)
  • 2004
  • 2005
    • Exploding German Toads (Coming soon!)
    • The Whale Coroner
    • Exploding Toilet (Coming soon!)
    • Exploding Python
    • Whale Carcass Yields Bone-devouring Worms
  • 2006
    • Troajn Nuclear Cooling Tower (Coming soon!)
    • Strange Hobby, New Baby Tie ’90s Alumni to Oregon