55 Years of 'Happy Exploding Whale Day' Celebrated in Oregon Coast's Florence

Published 11/11/25 at 7:25 a.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff

(Florence, Oregon) - November 12, 1970 is a day that will live in infamy around the world. It's probably where more of Earth's population have gotten a hint the Oregon coast exists than anywhere else. On that day, state officials attempted to dispose of a dead whale on the beach near the north end of Florence by detonating it. The goal was to eliminate the carcass and its odor.

That date is once again upon us: the 55th anniversary of Florence's Exploding Whale.

This year, even though it's kind of a big number, the celebration remains a bit more low key. It happens on Sunday, November 16th at Homegrown Public House & Brewery in Florence. It runs from noon to about 3 p.m. or so. See https://www.xplodingwhale.com/

The history of the whale is a bit “explosive” itself.

Starting with the deed on the beach: in a word the attempt backfired. More like....fired upwards. Whale remains and bloody goo rained down across the area, coating spectators and vehicles hundreds of feet away. People ran and scattered. A large chunk of the whale flew through the air and wrecked a car.

Exploding Whale Park in Florence

The bizarre incident was captured on film and, decades later, became a viral sensation. The TV news report resurfaced in the 1990s as the internet gained traction, quickly becoming the most watched clip online and holding that record for than ten years.

Even before that, humorist Dave Barry had written about the event in the 1980s, introducing the story to a new generation. But it was the internet in the mid-1990s that truly launched the tale into global notoriety.

Around that time, Eugene resident Steve Hackenstadt launched theexplodingwhale.com, a website that immediately hit the ground running. With that fame came strange reactions: some accused Hackenstadt of orchestrating the explosion or faking the footage. As he discovered, the internet can be a strange and sometimes hostile place, however humorous the content.

Still, Hackenstadt’s site became the hub of Exploding Whale lore, and by the 2000s, online communities began marking the anniversary with “happy exploding whale day” messages. By the 2010s, the phrase was even heard in Portland bars.

It's interesting to note: the film itself was very nearly lost just after the event. Footage had accidentally been left in Florence as anchorman and cameraman took off to fly back to Portland, but KATU-TV management somehow saw the worth of this capture and paid someone to drive it up from Florence.

Florence, for years, tried to distance itself from the incident, viewing it as a source of embarrassment. But in the 2010s, the town embraced its odd legacy, launching the annual Exploding Whale Memorial Celebration. The event gained traction, even inspiring a Eugene sports team to briefly adopt the name “Exploding Whales.”

Last year marked a new milestone: an official proclamation at Florence City Hall recognizing the day. There was even a large gathering to mark the occasion and some amount of worldwide press.

Elaine McMillan of Florence talked about with Oregon Coast Beach Connection a few years ago:

“We have a tiny committee of community members that find true joy in planning this affair,” McMillan said. “We feel that to remember something that went so wrong can make an ongoing positive difference in our small coastal community. The celebration brings levity during a darker, quieter time of year. Our exploding whale has become legendary world-wide and there have been countless reports of others learning from the plan gone wrong. So we consider this celebration cultural, historical and fun, which makes for sort of a magic trifecta!"

There's an Exploding Whale Park now as well.

See Wacky History of Exploding Whale

What is strangely unknown about this is that this wasn't the first time Oregon tried this approach. It happened back in the '30s near Astoria. See the article on the Warrenton Exploding Whale.

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