In June 1979, 41 sperm whales washed up near Florence. I was living there at the time and had a summer job with the Forest Service. We went down to the beach to see the whales, it was sad and awe inspiring to see their size. I remember thinking the people pulling on a rope trying to drag them back into the water were morons.
Having learned that blowing them up wasn't a good idea, the whales were buried. First the whales were cut up, remains pushed in to a large pit and then they tried burning them. While working one day, had the Forest Service radio on and heard a call saying they needed more chain saws. Seems the ones they had were getting 'gummed up' by all the whale blubber. Can't imagine the smell or mess of doing that.