Does anyone know why they decided to blow up the whale? I mean, the consequences should have been obvious to anyone. Where did they expect the pieces to go?
Perhaps the assumption was that many small pieces would be easier to clean up than one big piece. And that the very small pieces would be removed by other animals, or the weather.
Apparently they vastly overestimated how much explosive to use, resulting in the now infamous consequences.
"The decision to blow up the whale came from the Oregon Department of Transportation and George Thornton. According to Linnman, Thornton had consulted with the United State Navy, which had done things like this in the past. The general consensus from all involved after the explosion was that not enough dynamite was used."
The whale carcass was beginning to rot, which meant a massive stink. So they decided to blast it into pieces that could be eaten by seagulls... only that this plan failed and the chunks were too big.
8 tons of whale mince is going to need a hell of a lot of seagull. Just poking a hole or three in it to let the gasses out then hauling it into the sea seems an option ( but IANA whale carcass disposal expert)
Don't ask me :D I just took the info from the article.
On the other side, given I'm half Croatian, seagulls and other meat-eating birds will absolutely devour that meat in no time - they will lead other flocks of birds to the food source.
If it wasn't a crowded/ popular-ish beach (not LA crowded, Oregon Coast crowded), it would have likely been fine. The big problem was the fact that they have a bunch of spectators who were parked within the blast range.
