High tide allows dead whale to resurface
NEAR NEWPORT, Ore. - A 37 foot-long dead whale buried by workers in the sand near Newport reappeared Friday after a high tide scrubbed away the sand.
The gray whale washed ashore last weekend and became an instant and somewhat smelly tourist attraction.
Crews plan to rebury the whale above the high tide line. Biologists say it takes a bout a year for the whale to decompose once it is buried in the sand.
In 1970, in an infamous episode that is now part of Oregon lore, workers blew up a beached whale carcass with dynamite, thinking the obliterated whale bits would be cleaned up by birds and other natural forces.
The plan went awry when too much dynamite (or some say, not enough) was used, sending large chunks of whale blubber raining down onto onlookers observing some distance away.
Several vehicles were damaged by large chunks of whale falling from above. No one was injured.
The gray whale washed ashore last weekend and became an instant and somewhat smelly tourist attraction.
Crews plan to rebury the whale above the high tide line. Biologists say it takes a bout a year for the whale to decompose once it is buried in the sand.
In 1970, in an infamous episode that is now part of Oregon lore, workers blew up a beached whale carcass with dynamite, thinking the obliterated whale bits would be cleaned up by birds and other natural forces.
The plan went awry when too much dynamite (or some say, not enough) was used, sending large chunks of whale blubber raining down onto onlookers observing some distance away.
Several vehicles were damaged by large chunks of whale falling from above. No one was injured.
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