A 56-foot, 60-ton sperm whale died on a beach in Taiwan in January, 2004. Researchers wanted the carcass to perform an autopsy and for research, so they loaded the whale onto a tractor-trailer and set out through the city of Tainan, heading for the Shi-Tsau Natural Preserve. It took 13 hours, three cranes and 50 workers to get the whale loaded on the truck. Unfortunately, on the way through the city, gasses built up to a critical level in the whale and it exploded, spewing whale guts in the street, on the cars and over pedestrians. According to witnesses, the smell was pretty bad. Residents and shop owners put on masks and tried to clean up the mess.
Found by Dylan Newstead.
Mmmmm… sushi!
Thanks for the wonderful pictures on a sunny afternoon.
A whale of a mess.
I hope they don’t do that to Michael Jackson.
Why not perform the necropsy on the beach? Even if they wanted the skeleton, it would have been easier to move afterwords.
1/2 ton explosives gives a better distribution.
Are you kidding? China? Are you KIDDING??? This is all going to end up for sale in the food shops there, in one form or another… They will eat ANYTHING is China. Dead or alive.
Not to mention they wanted the barrels and barrels of fine oil in the skull. Finest natural oil available. Don’t worry, they will still get that.
Faxon, um Taiwan is not China.
There was a one hour show on Discovery recently about this.
Uhmmmm, echeola: Yes, Taiwan IS China. It is officially, The Republic of China (the ROC) whereas the mainland is officially the People’s Republic of China (the PRC).
I had the pleasure of living with a young Chinese lady for several years in Texas while she studied for her Master’s degree in Oceanography. Her family home is in Tainan and I read this story knowing she is probably involved in some way.
Faxon? Yes, if she was involved, I’m somehow sure some of it will end up on the dinner table.
#6 Jägermeister
Psych! That was the first thing I thought of.
#11 – Animby – Yes, Taiwan IS China. It is officially, The Republic of China (the ROC) whereas the mainland is officially the People’s Republic of China (the PRC).
And normally, it’s China (People’s Republic of China) and Taiwan (Republic of China). Faxon didn’t declare Republic of China, so you would understand it as China… you know… Commie China.
#12 – qb
Just open up wide and the food comes flying…
Dvorak.org/blog is doing reruns from 2004?!
I’m just wondering what the insurance claim adjuster’s reaction will be:
“Yea. I’m filing a claim because my car was destroyed”
“OK. What happened?”
“A whale exploded next to it”
*click*
Whole definition of fail whale.
Still making fun of vegans?
Man, this is old news from January of 2004.
Still, I like the sushi comment.
Wouldn’t it have been better to bring Muhamed to the mountain?
Sure that wasn’t just a whale fart? With chunks. So the question would really be, do whale farts have chunks and if not, what would you call it?