A park in the coastal town of Oregon has been named after the exploding whale incident that took place around 50 years ago. The residents of the town have voted for the park to be renamed after the incident in order to honour the whale that was washed ashore in 1970.
The official website of the city of Florence, Oregon, has listed the park and has described its distinctive features. As mentioned, the Exploding Whale Memorial Park offers views of the Siuslaw River and Bridge, along with the iconic sand dunes on the South side of the river.
Interestingly, the name was suggested and decided by the residents of the city. Talking to New York Times, Florence city project manager Megan Messmer said, “We asked the community for name suggestions, narrowed those 120-plus names down to nine, and had the community vote on them.”
For the unversed, the infamous exploding whale incident took place in November 1970, when the huge sea creatures landed up on the shores of Florence City. To avoid the 8-ton whale from rotting on the seaside and to make sure that the visitors do not touch or climb the carcass, the officials decided to blow up the whale using dynamite.
They thought it would divide the whale into small pieces, which can be pushed back into the sea later. Instead of ending up as a success, the plan failed miserably, with pieces of decayed raw meat spread all over the city, some even hitting and crushing a car.
You can watch a video of the incident from 1970 on YouTube: