Friday, May 23, 2008
Cute photo right?
Well, in a discussion at work today, we were talking about trips to the coast and I mentioned the incident last weekend at Hug Point by Manzanita Beach, were we saw a dead bloated sea lion washed upon the beach. The sight of kids poking it with sticks (until a wave would come and wash the carcass towards them - sending the kids running back up the beach - only to then come back to the carcass as it settled down again and resume with the poking of sticks), was both funny and revolting at the same time. Which, as our workplace discussion progressed, brought up the question of: What happens to large marine animals when they wash up on shore?
This segued naturally, into a story that is rooted deep in Oregon lore.... the story about the exploding whale. Apparently, in 1970, a large whale washed up on an Oregon beach. The locals, who were at first intrigued by the large dead mammal, soon grew tired of the stench and requested for it to be removed from their beach. Of all the state departments who deal with such matters, no one wanted to be the one to do the job. The whale was too big to move, too big to bury, too nasty to cut up into pieces, and too revolting to just let be picked apart by rabid seagulls. So, they thought up the next best thing they could think of to dispose of the creature.... they might as well blow it up.
What follows is an animation of the event that is both, much like the kids poking at the dead sea lion, funny and revolting at the same time.
This next clip is the actual footage of the event which was broadcast on the local news. Warning, not for the faint at heart or weak of stomach, esp if you just ate a footlong tuna sub from subway.
Well, in a discussion at work today, we were talking about trips to the coast and I mentioned the incident last weekend at Hug Point by Manzanita Beach, were we saw a dead bloated sea lion washed upon the beach. The sight of kids poking it with sticks (until a wave would come and wash the carcass towards them - sending the kids running back up the beach - only to then come back to the carcass as it settled down again and resume with the poking of sticks), was both funny and revolting at the same time. Which, as our workplace discussion progressed, brought up the question of: What happens to large marine animals when they wash up on shore?
This segued naturally, into a story that is rooted deep in Oregon lore.... the story about the exploding whale. Apparently, in 1970, a large whale washed up on an Oregon beach. The locals, who were at first intrigued by the large dead mammal, soon grew tired of the stench and requested for it to be removed from their beach. Of all the state departments who deal with such matters, no one wanted to be the one to do the job. The whale was too big to move, too big to bury, too nasty to cut up into pieces, and too revolting to just let be picked apart by rabid seagulls. So, they thought up the next best thing they could think of to dispose of the creature.... they might as well blow it up.
What follows is an animation of the event that is both, much like the kids poking at the dead sea lion, funny and revolting at the same time.
This next clip is the actual footage of the event which was broadcast on the local news. Warning, not for the faint at heart or weak of stomach, esp if you just ate a footlong tuna sub from subway.
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