On November 12, 1976 an 8-ton whale washed ashore in Oregon.  The whale was dead on arrival and officials had to figure out how to remove the whale from the shore.  The whale was too huge to bury and nobody wanted to cut it up and bury it.  So what did they decide to do?  Well, blow it up...  of course.

huh?

Officials thought the explosion would disintegrate the whale--anything left would be eaten up by birds and crabs.  Seems like a flawless plan, right?  Check out the actual footage and see for yourself.

Updates:
I didn't realize how popular this story is.  The reporter, Paul Linnman, of 'the exploding whale' is quite a celebrity.  Thought to be an "exploding whale expert," BBC news had contacted Mr. Linnman to get his thoughts on a sperm whale that exploded in Taiwan.  He was interviewed by NPR in November 2005.  You can listen to the interview here.

You may also want to visit the official Exploding Whale website.

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