June 20, 2025 • 7 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, after a whale washed up on an Oregon beach in 1970, someone decided it would be a good idea to blow it up with a large amount of dynamite. Things didn’t go as planned. Jesse Edwards shares the story.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories,
and we tell stories about everything here on this show,
from the arts to sports, and from business to history.
And we've got a well of a tale to bring
you right now, Jesse Edwards can explain.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
On November ninth, nineteen seventy, a forty five foot long,
eight ton sperm whale washed ashore on the central Oregon Coast,
just outside the town of Florence.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
After all these years, it's amazing that this thing has
come back to life again. But every once in a
while it pops up.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
It's an aroma that still lingers.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
It was one of the worst smells I've ever encountered.
Words cannot describe the smell.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
It was in my nostrils for a solid week.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
The whale carcass remained rotting on the beach for over
a week. Nobody knew what to do about it. It
was too big to berry, stunk too much to cut
into smaller pieces, and burning it was out of the question.
At the time. Oregon beaches were under the jurisdiction of
the state's Highway Division, which, after consulting with the United
(01:25):
States Navy, decided to remove the whale using dynamite. George
Thornton was the engineer in charge of the operation.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
Well, I'm confident that it'll work. The only thing is
we're not sure just exactly how much explosives it'll take
to disintegrate this things. So the scavenger, seagulls and crabs
and what knot can clean it up. Is there any
chance it might be more than a one day job
if there's any large chunks left, and we may have
(01:57):
to do some other clean up, possibly set.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Another Thornton was chosen to remove the whale carcass because
his supervisor had gone hunting that day. A charge of
half a ton of dynamite was selected. As words spread
across town, crowds began to gather.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
I'm thinking we got big trouble here, twenty cases of dynamite.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Walter Umenhaffer, a military veteran with explosives training, happened to
be in the crowd. He warned the crew that the
twenty cases of dynamite was an overkill. Twenty sticks would
have sufficed, but his advice went unheeded.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
This guy says, any how, I said, I'm gonna have
everybody up there on the top of those doings. Far away.
I said, yeah, and I'm going to be the furthest
sob down that way. They made a big spectacle of
waving their hats, the hard hats in the air, and
went clear everybody away, and all this all clear.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
The dynamite was buried under the whale on the leeward side,
so that most of the mammal would be blown towards
the sea. The crowds of people that had come to
see the whale be blown to bits were pushed back
a quarter of a mile to safety. The dynamite was
detonated at three forty five pm. Up, Fred your head,
(03:32):
what you're hearing are the chunks of rotten whale blooder
raining down on the spectators. Walter Ummenhoffer saw it all happen.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
And I touched that socker off and let me tell you,
that thing went up and it was the vagest mushroom
cloud you ever seen. And it was red and white
and black in it, with nothing but guts and bloods
and gunk.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Carried by strong coastal winds, a cloud of putrid whale
fluids moved inland.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
So everybody all of a sudden start realizing that, oh
my god, here it comes in this mist. We were covered,
we were permeated with redness and the smell.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Those who witnessed the explosion agree that the next few
moments seemed to last forever. It soon became apparent what
should have been little pieces of whale turned out to
be big ones. And this stuff starts hitting the ground,
and all of a sudden, you realize, my god, I
(04:40):
could be killed by whale blubber here.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
And I'm watching this one piece. There's a big piece
up there. It's kind of flubbering and floating around. And
we ran, we literally ran, and it just absolutely stopped,
and it came flat down a cup sh.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Right on top of Walter Amenhoffer's nineteen sixty nine oldsmobile.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
It was a neat car. I just got it from Donams.
It was a Regency and like I say, the funny
thing about their slogan was a whale of a deal. Well,
I got a hell of a whale of a deal.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Within two days, the State of Oregon wrote Walter a
check for the full retail value of his car. The
blast blasted blubber beyond all believable bounds, yet only some
of the whale was disintegrated. The majority of the whale
carcass remained on the beach, with the Oregon Highway Division
to clean up due to damage that was caused to
(05:43):
local property. Whales that are found beached in Oregon are
now buried where they're found. And you may be wondering
what happened to the man who decided it was a
good idea to use one thousand pounds of dynamite to
blow up the beached whale, George Thornton, Is there.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
Any chance it might be more than a one day.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
If there's any large chunks left.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
In his official report back in nineteen seventy, he declared
the operation a success, which helps to explain what happened
to his career. Just six months later, he got promoted
four Our American Stories.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
I'm Jesse Edwards, and great job as always to Jesse
Edwards who always manages to find these quirky and yet
ultimately American stories. And I just loved hearing the voices
and the sound effects. My goodness, I just keep thinking
about the smell the exploding well of Florence, Oregon. That
story here on Our American Stories lie habibe here and
(07:30):
I'd like to encourage you to subscribe to Our American
Stories on Apple podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, Spotify, or wherever
you get our podcasts. Any story you missed or want
to hear again can be found there daily again. Please
subscribe to the Our American Stories podcast on Apple podcasts,
(07:51):
the iHeartRadio app, or anywhere you get your podcasts. It
helps us keep these great American stories coming
This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories,
and we tell stories about everything here on this show,
from the arts to sports, and from business to history.
And we've got a well of a tale to bring
you right now, Jesse Edwards can explain.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
On November ninth, nineteen seventy, a forty five foot long,
eight ton sperm whale washed ashore on the central Oregon Coast,
just outside the town of Florence.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
After all these years, it's amazing that this thing has
come back to life again. But every once in a
while it pops up.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
It's an aroma that still lingers.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
It was one of the worst smells I've ever encountered.
Words cannot describe the smell.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
It was in my nostrils for a solid week.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
The whale carcass remained rotting on the beach for over
a week. Nobody knew what to do about it. It
was too big to berry, stunk too much to cut
into smaller pieces, and burning it was out of the question.
At the time. Oregon beaches were under the jurisdiction of
the state's Highway Division, which, after consulting with the United
(01:25):
States Navy, decided to remove the whale using dynamite. George
Thornton was the engineer in charge of the operation.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
Well, I'm confident that it'll work. The only thing is
we're not sure just exactly how much explosives it'll take
to disintegrate this things. So the scavenger, seagulls and crabs
and what knot can clean it up. Is there any
chance it might be more than a one day job
if there's any large chunks left, and we may have
(01:57):
to do some other clean up, possibly set.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Another Thornton was chosen to remove the whale carcass because
his supervisor had gone hunting that day. A charge of
half a ton of dynamite was selected. As words spread
across town, crowds began to gather.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
I'm thinking we got big trouble here, twenty cases of dynamite.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Walter Umenhaffer, a military veteran with explosives training, happened to
be in the crowd. He warned the crew that the
twenty cases of dynamite was an overkill. Twenty sticks would
have sufficed, but his advice went unheeded.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
This guy says, any how, I said, I'm gonna have
everybody up there on the top of those doings. Far away.
I said, yeah, and I'm going to be the furthest
sob down that way. They made a big spectacle of
waving their hats, the hard hats in the air, and
went clear everybody away, and all this all clear.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
The dynamite was buried under the whale on the leeward side,
so that most of the mammal would be blown towards
the sea. The crowds of people that had come to
see the whale be blown to bits were pushed back
a quarter of a mile to safety. The dynamite was
detonated at three forty five pm. Up, Fred your head,
(03:32):
what you're hearing are the chunks of rotten whale blooder
raining down on the spectators. Walter Ummenhoffer saw it all happen.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
And I touched that socker off and let me tell you,
that thing went up and it was the vagest mushroom
cloud you ever seen. And it was red and white
and black in it, with nothing but guts and bloods
and gunk.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Carried by strong coastal winds, a cloud of putrid whale
fluids moved inland.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
So everybody all of a sudden start realizing that, oh
my god, here it comes in this mist. We were covered,
we were permeated with redness and the smell.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Those who witnessed the explosion agree that the next few
moments seemed to last forever. It soon became apparent what
should have been little pieces of whale turned out to
be big ones. And this stuff starts hitting the ground,
and all of a sudden, you realize, my god, I
(04:40):
could be killed by whale blubber here.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
And I'm watching this one piece. There's a big piece
up there. It's kind of flubbering and floating around. And
we ran, we literally ran, and it just absolutely stopped,
and it came flat down a cup sh.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Right on top of Walter Amenhoffer's nineteen sixty nine oldsmobile.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
It was a neat car. I just got it from Donams.
It was a Regency and like I say, the funny
thing about their slogan was a whale of a deal. Well,
I got a hell of a whale of a deal.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Within two days, the State of Oregon wrote Walter a
check for the full retail value of his car. The
blast blasted blubber beyond all believable bounds, yet only some
of the whale was disintegrated. The majority of the whale
carcass remained on the beach, with the Oregon Highway Division
to clean up due to damage that was caused to
(05:43):
local property. Whales that are found beached in Oregon are
now buried where they're found. And you may be wondering
what happened to the man who decided it was a
good idea to use one thousand pounds of dynamite to
blow up the beached whale, George Thornton, Is there.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
Any chance it might be more than a one day.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
If there's any large chunks left.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
In his official report back in nineteen seventy, he declared
the operation a success, which helps to explain what happened
to his career. Just six months later, he got promoted
four Our American Stories.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
I'm Jesse Edwards, and great job as always to Jesse
Edwards who always manages to find these quirky and yet
ultimately American stories. And I just loved hearing the voices
and the sound effects. My goodness, I just keep thinking
about the smell the exploding well of Florence, Oregon. That
story here on Our American Stories lie habibe here and
(07:30):
I'd like to encourage you to subscribe to Our American
Stories on Apple podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, Spotify, or wherever
you get our podcasts. Any story you missed or want
to hear again can be found there daily again. Please
subscribe to the Our American Stories podcast on Apple podcasts,
(07:51):
the iHeartRadio app, or anywhere you get your podcasts. It
helps us keep these great American stories coming
Host
Lee Habeeb
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