Exploding Whale Memorial Park
612 Rhododendron Drive, Florence
On a November morning in 1970 a dead sperm whale came ashore south of Florence, and the Oregon Highway Division decided the tidiest way to be rid of it was dynamite. Half a ton of it went off in front of a crowd of onlookers, the whale was vaporized in a way nobody had planned for, and the falling blubber sent people running up the beach. The whole thing was filmed, and the film has never stopped travelling. It is the reason people in other countries know where Florence, Oregon is, and the reason the town has learned to enjoy the story rather than live it down. In 2020 the city gave the old Rhododendron Drive park on the Siuslaw its present name, in a vote that was never really close. Today it is a quiet riverfront green with a beach launch for kayaks, a few picnic tables, and a view across the water to the bridge, plus a small plaque for the whale. Which is the better memorial, most visitors agree.
- Activity
- Historic Landmarks
- Where it stands
- 612 Rhododendron Drive, Florence
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