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About this page…
The original footage of the exploding whale first appeared on KATU Channel 2 Portland, OR in November 1970. The story was reported by Paul Linnman, and the cameraman was Doug Brazil.
Since then, the story has been retold countless times, and numerous versions of the original news story have appeared on the internet as a result. Several of them are viewable in the YouTube player on this page. For even more exploding whale-related videos, please visit TheExplodingWhale.com’s video portal on YouTube.
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Press one of the “Play” buttons to start the first video. Or, press the “Video Selector” button to choose a specific version of the video. |
The YouTube player above will take you through the following versions of the video in order:
- 1970 KATU (original report)
- 2002 KATU (abridged update)
- 2004(?) TechTV (highly abridged)
- 2008 CNN’s News To Me
All of these videos, plus additional exploding whale-related videos, are available at TheExplodingWhale.com video portal on ![[YouTube]](/wp-content/youtubesm.jpg)
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After watching the video, leave us a comment below or on the site feedback page!
- If all else fails, you can read the annotated transcript of the original newsreel.
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- Physical copies of the video (e.g., on VHS or DVD) are not available under any circumstances. Don’t bother asking.
March 8th, 2010 at 4:42 pm
Oh my gosh…after reading all those comments, I KNOW I’m not weird for laughing about this so much. Thanks for the site!
January 20th, 2010 at 5:01 pm
Absolutely NOTHING beats Stacey Keach’s narration of the event when he did World’s Most Amazing Video’s #6 in 1999 and this was the Main Event Finale of the show!!!
January 12th, 2010 at 8:02 am
My colleague and friend Dr. Heinrik von Steel, Attorney at Law, shares a deep-seated fascination with post-mortem whale explosion with me. If only I could witness this phenomenon first hand. My life would be complete.
With the utmost sincerity,
Dr. Yox Tyrannosaur, Attorney at Law
January 12th, 2010 at 7:59 am
I first heard about this explosive phenomenon on the Dick Daveson Show, which premiered on HGTV on the first of December. Stunned by the natural magnificence of whale explosion, I decided to investigate the matter further. This brought me to your terrific website. As long as I live, I will always cherish post-mortem whale explosion.
Truly,
Dr. Heinrik von Steel, Attorney at Law
January 7th, 2010 at 1:25 pm
I first heard of this incident through several mentions in columns by humorist Dave Barry. It occurred to me today: ‘Something this stupid has got to be on video on the Internet. In fact it’s so stupid, there’s got to be a whole website about it.” Sure enough. Thanks for perpetuating the poignant plot for posterity and blatantly blogging the blubbery blast.
December 4th, 2009 at 1:35 am
We don’t need no Stink’in whales!
December 2nd, 2009 at 2:44 pm
LOL this is GREAT!!! I loved the commentator….
November 5th, 2009 at 11:26 am
Whales! Some people love them, others hate them. Whatever your stance, we at Kill The Whales are eager to hear your views on how to deal with the Cetacean problem plaguing our oceans. Please check us out at
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=321009020446
October 15th, 2009 at 4:13 am
my whales just fine
July 18th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
I like how the whole community got together to solve this problem.
July 8th, 2009 at 12:11 am
Ha! This whale event was in my hometown!
May 19th, 2009 at 8:17 pm
It’s so funny to me that ODOT was in charge of this whole operation. I can’t believe they didn’t use their heads on this one. But, I suppose if it didn’t happen, we wouldn’t have something to laugh at all these years later. ROFL!
May 1st, 2009 at 3:10 pm
When i go, i want to be ‘disseminated’ like that too!
But send my body to Osama first. Tell him “look, another infidel you defied.”, then ‘boom’!
March 4th, 2009 at 4:12 pm
This is the most beautiful hymn to human stupidity in the whole world. Melts my heart to see how brilliantly stupid one can be. I am shedding tears of joy.
February 3rd, 2009 at 4:16 pm
Why was the highway department taking care of a beached whale…?
Yay for the laws of physics at work!!!
February 2nd, 2009 at 1:55 pm
I was recovering of a maxilar operation with more than 20 stitches in my mouth, watching tv with my wife and suddenly the dummiest videos showed and the exploding whale came to my eyes and I laughed so much that some stiches broke, we could not even change the channel because we were laughing so much that we could not even breathe and our stomach hurt and they repeat the video and had to visit the dentist again.
January 30th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
Smart… S.M.R.T
December 13th, 2008 at 2:07 am
This is the funniest video I have ever seen. If you ever have seen the movie “Reno 911: Miami” there is a part of the movie that is based on this situation lol.
December 8th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
How do you explain this to your car insurance? “no sir I was not driving drunk, a piece of exploding whale made that dent”.
November 26th, 2008 at 12:42 am
I’m going to the beach for Thanksgiving tomorrow, and I always watch this video before I go. Oh Oregon coast, what rotting carcasses won’t wash up on you?
November 12th, 2008 at 7:53 am
Ah, the conservationists of OR. Even Mom & GayLynne will smile about this one.
July 28th, 2008 at 10:21 am
This is absolutely the strangest video I’ve ever watched. I cannot even begin to imagine what it would’ve been like to be covered in whale bits. I imagine that smell took some serious bathing to remove. Whose brainiac idea was this anyway? Hilarious!
February 21st, 2008 at 9:32 am
I heard about the incident just before I moved to Oregon in the wow farout groovy early 70’s. It was just meant to be. The whale was very, very dead when it beached….that was the problem…you could smell it for miles around. The video still makes me smile - everytime.
February 15th, 2008 at 3:51 am
And they’re going to get rid of that satellite by blowing it up. Hummmmm
February 12th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
that was TOTALLY AWSOME !!!
February 8th, 2008 at 11:54 pm
I just love this story. First came to light in a Libertarian newsletter that I found circulating 20 years ago. Then someone sent me a copy of a local newscast going over the anniversary of the event. It was absolutely hilarious. The news anchors were laughing so hard after the report aired they could hardly speak. If I ever find that version of the story I’ll send it to you as it really is the best of all of the exploding whale videos I’ve ever seen.
February 7th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
COOOOOOoOOOOOOOOoOOOOOOoOOOOL!!!
December 23rd, 2007 at 1:09 pm
Our biology lecturer showed us this video, I can’t quite remember why right now…?!
“Of course, being American, they decided to blow it up!”
I just think “Cooooool”.
December 10th, 2007 at 6:52 pm
This seems silly, but I am sure it is not the worst thing the Oregon Dept. of Transportation has done… all you Oregonians out there know it
December 6th, 2007 at 11:41 pm
My daughter took me to Florence a while back…..found this story and just watched the news cast……..what a story……..why did the whale beach itself???? Would it have been handled differently now??? Lots of unanswered questions???? Things that make you go hmmmmmmm
November 12th, 2007 at 8:36 am
Happy exploding whale day! (which would make a good name for a rock band) In honor of this historic event, invite some friends over. Light the grill and blow up some hot dogs, or go out and eat sushi ’till ya puke. This year, I’ll be ceremonially destroying a ‘68 Mercury sedan.
October 16th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
the exploding whale is perhaps the single most incredible thing i’ve ever seen. my only regret is that i hadn’t been there. or born yet. exploding whale rules!!!
August 17th, 2007 at 9:11 pm
its raining whale halaluah its raining whale halaluah its raining whale halaluah its raining whale halaluah its raining whale halaluah its raining whale
July 24th, 2007 at 9:31 am
I tried all the troubleshooting links and all the alternative download sites and I was unable to view the video. I fine the article and ignorance facinating and was interested in seeing the actual footage. I’m almost embarrased to say I’m an Oregonian Webfoot - born and bred!
July 19th, 2007 at 1:15 pm
[...] 3) I have not, and never will (God willing and the creek don’t rise), ever read Moby Dick. F__k you, whale. I don’t give a tinker’s damn what happens to your sorry ass. [...]
November 18th, 2006 at 9:34 pm
[...] What to do when a dead whale washes up on your shore? Well, you could blow it up. But we all remember how that ended up, don’t we? In case you have forgotten Click Here to go to a page that has the video from 1970. Okay, so blowing it up doesn’t work, so now what? How about sinking it with 3 tons of train wheels attached to it? Yeah, that’s the ticket Confronted with a rotting whale carcass on the beach in 1970, officials in Florence, Ore., hauled in 20 cases of dynamite and lit the fuse. [...]
July 24th, 2006 at 3:33 pm
[...] While sifting through some old emails, Wolf reminded me of the story of the whale that exploded in the street of Tainan, Taiwan. Which inevitably brings up that old story about the whale that they dynamited, somewhat unsuccessfully, 35 years ago in Florence, Oregon. There is now a website dedicated to exploding whales, and other exploding things. [...]
July 7th, 2006 at 1:28 am
[...] Das Resultat, nämlich einige Tonnen fliegenden Walglibbers, ist in diesem Video festgehalten. Auch recht amüsant zu lesen ist die dazugehörige Homepage, auf der man viele weiterführende Links zu dieser wahren Geschichte finden kann. [...]
March 19th, 2006 at 10:15 pm
[...] In case you’ve ever wondered what it would look like . . . Yes, a municipality tried it. And, of course, the local news videotaped it. [...]