UK town uses Oregon's 'exploding whale' fiasco to give coronavirus lessons

Amid coronavirus outbreak, the need of social distancing and staying at home is being explained by the well-known 'exploding-whale' incident that took place around 50 years back. Recently, a town in England used the famous incident to explain the need of maintaining social distance. The 'exploding-whale' fiasco happened in 1970, when officials, in order to dispose the rotting carcass, decided to explode the decaying sperm whale using dynamite.

Carcass exploded

On 9 November, 1970, a 45-foot-long sperm whale had washed upon a beach in Florence, Oregon. On discussions regarding what should be done with the whale, it was decided that the whale would be blown up using half a tonne of dynamite explosives, since leaving it to decompose would give out a foul smell. The plan was executed even after the officials were warned against using the huge amount of dynamite. After 3 days, the sperm whale was exploded in the presence of an excited audience.

Read: Fact Check: Were a group of Whales spotted near the 'Bombay High' Oil Rig?

Horrible disaster

However, the whole plan turned out to be a disaster as the explosion of the whale resulted in massive pieces of fat from the whale's carcass flying through the air. The terrified spectators ran inside their homes as the rotting pieces of the whale showered on them. The whole situation turned unpleasant, as there were thousands of rotting pieces of blubber scattered all around, spreading around the obnoxious smell. The Doncaster Council on it's official Twitter handle, posted a long thread of tweets regarding the 'exploding whale' fiasco to explain the need of social distancing.

Read: Sperm Whale Dies After Beaching Itself North Of Mar-a-Lago

Netizens impressed

The Doncaster Council, towards the end of the thread, suggested people relate the incident with the current situation in the world. They suggested people to listen to experts, sit at home in isolation rather than going out and to not let their acts of carelessness put others in a harmful situation, just as the entire city was covered with decaying whale pieces many years back. Netizens were impressed with the example being used to explain the need of staying indoors, showering the tweet with appreciative comments and over 79,800 likes.

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