Monday, April 6, 2020

Whale Explosion Thread is a Lesson in Listening to Experts


The Doncaster Council narrated a thread on the infamous Oregon whale explosion of 1970, and how it's a good example on why it's a good idea to listen to experts, especially in times like these. For some more weird history, here's a tumblr thread that makes history fun.

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Text - Doncaster Council Doncaster Council @MyDoncaster In November 1970, officials in Oregon, USA decided to blow up a rotting whale carcass. The whole thing went horribly wrong. Why do we bring this up? Well, this story can teach us 3 things about #coronavirus

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Grass

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Text - Doncaster Council Doncaster Council @MyDoncaster The story begins when a 45-foot sperm whale washed up on the beach in Florence, Oregon on 9 November 1970. Here it is:

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Text - Fish - Fiorent OreBDA

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Text - Text - Doncaster Council Doncaster Council @MyDoncaster There was some debate amongst locals about what to do with it. 1 Although unpleasant, they could leave it to decompose. 2 They could try and chop it up and bury it (again, not pleasant) 3 They could blow it up with dynamite and hope that seagulls ate all the small chunks.

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Text - Doncaster Council Doncaster Council @MyDoncaster It was decided that leaving the whale to decompose would be too unpleasant in the short term. No one wants the smell of rotting sperm whale when they're eating their Christmas dinner.

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Text - Text - Doncaster Council Doncaster Council @MyDoncaster Fortunately, at least for the purposes of this history lesson, they chose option 3. They would blow up the whale.

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Text - Font - EXPLOSIVES SIZE 14X8 STUMPING 50 lbs. GRADE

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Text - Text - Doncaster Council Doncaster Council @MyDoncaster George Thornton, who sensibly seems to be wearing a hard hat, was the engineer in charge of the explosion. By his own admission, he wasn't sure how much dynamite would be needed to completely obliterate one of the world's largest mammals, so he opted for half a tonne.

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Text - People - GLORGE (0RN State H fiw

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Text - Text - Doncaster Council Doncaster Council @MyDoncaster An ex-member of the military advised George and the other officials that this was waaaay too much, and just a few sticks of dynamite would be enough. They ignored his advice.

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Text - Doncaster Council Doncaster Council @MyDoncaster On 12 November, in front of a crowd of excited spectators (yes, really)...they exploded the whale.

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Text - Text - Doncaster Council Doncaster Council @MyDoncaster Very quickly, the short-sightedness of the plan became evident. The huge amount of dynamite sent massive chunks of blubber flying through the chilly air, and it rained down around the terrified onlookers.

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Text - Text - Doncaster Council Doncaster Council @MyDoncaster The overwhelming smell sent people running for their homes as rotting whale plopped down around them. The situation was dangerous - a car was even crushed by a huge lump of blubber a quarter of a mile away.

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Text - Text - Doncaster Council Doncaster Council @MyDoncaster To cap everything off, the main bit of the whale stayed exactly where it had been. The problem hadn't gone away, only now there were thousands of bits of problem spread for miles around.

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Text - Text - Doncaster Council Doncaster Council @MyDoncaster So why do we tell you this story? Well, as far as we can see, there are three #coronavirus lessons here:

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Text - Text - Doncaster Council Doncaster Council @MyDoncaster 1 DON'T IGNORE THE ADVICE THAT EXPERTS GIVE YOU. They know what they're talking about.

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Text - Text - Doncaster Council Doncaster Council @MyDoncaster 2 Sometimes, it's better to just sit at home and do nothing than go outside and do something ridiculous. Let nature take its course.

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Text - Text - Doncaster Council O Doncaster Council @MyDoncaster 3 When you ignore expert advice and act like an idiot, you Cover everyone else with decaying whale blubber. #StayHome and stop being selfish.

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