Four decades ago, a whale carcass washed ashore on a Florence, Oregon, beach and was exploded by a demolition team using a half ton of dynamite, leaving onlookers covered in whale blubber and guts. Now that fateful day has become an official state holiday.
Nov. 12 has officially been declared Exploding Whale Day, and that’s not all. The entire month is now Exploding Whale Month at the Exploding Whale Memorial Park, according to BroBible.
Oregonians aren’t necessarily proud of the event, which went viral, but they need to maintain a sense of humor about it.
“We feel that to remember something that went so wrong can make an ongoing positive difference in our small coastal community,” organizer Elaine McMillan says in a press release. “The celebration brings levity during a darker, quieter time of year.”
There was also a large movement — and petition — earlier this year to blow up another whale carcass in remembrance of the one 44 years ago.