This weekend I discovered that Florence, Oregon has a park dedicated to the infamous exploding whale incident, which took place in 1970:

If you’re not familiar with the story, the Oregon Encyclopedia has an article on the Florence Whale Explosion you can read up on:

On November 9, 1970, a forty-five-foot, eight-ton sperm whale washed ashore near Florence on Oregon’s south coast. In addition to the stench and the possibility that the body would burst, local officials were concerned that people curious about the carcass might climb on it and fall in. The agency responsible for Oregon beaches, the Oregon State Highway Division (now the Oregon Department of Transportation), was called in to remove the whale. After consulting with U.S. Navy and munitions experts, Assistant District Highway Engineer George Thornton decided to treat the carcass as a boulder and to use dynamite to dislodge it.

Hijinks ensued. The Wikipedia article “Exploding whale” offers up some additional details, including this fun bit:

A military veteran with explosives training who happened to be in the area warned that the planned twenty cases of dynamite was far too much, and that 20 sticks (8.4 lb or 3.8 kg) would have sufficed, but his advice went unheeded.

Anyway, it’s a lovely little park that provides access to the Siuslaw River just off of Florence’s Historic Old Town, with a small covered picnic area and benches interspersed throughout. But to my disappointment it’s not where the whale explosion actually occurred, nor is there any sort of commemorative plaque or information about the whale to be found in the namesake park.

Good views of the river, though!