by Kyle Molyneux | Fri 13 Nov 2020
The curious case of an exploding whale and a mysterious tracked loader
Almost 50 years ago to the day, officials in Oregon, USA detonated 450kg of dynamite inside a 7.3-tonne rotting whale carcass that had washed onto a beach, in an attempt to rid the area of the smell once and for all.
As many will know, things didn’t quite go according to plan. Huge chunks of blubber were sent sky high, one of which came down with such force and was so large, it crushed the roof of a car parked half a mile away. By-standers and even a television crew from local news network KATU were forced to run for cover as they were showered with debris. Thankfully, nobody was injured.
The astonishing footage has been remastered to mark 50 years since the incident occurred. What really caught our eye, however, was the small, yellow tracked loader seen at the end of the video, used to roll away a large part of the sperm whale that hadn’t been blown to smithereens. Our question is – can you identify this mystery machine? Watch the footage below…
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