Projects - Whale Removal: Heavy Equipment & Haul Away

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. (AP) —
“It literally was a whale of a job. How exactly do you get rid of 80,000 pounds of rotting flesh? ”

Once the dead whale at San Onofre State Beach came apart, an excavator, a backhoe, and three dump trucks were waiting for haul it away. Charlie Perrault, owner of the trucking company that provided the heavy machinery, says he’s never hauled a whale before, but he has done other nasty jobs. “It’s comparable to hauling chicken manure. It smelled just as bad.” Truck driver Ron Schultz, said he relied on liberal amounts of Vick's Vapor Rub to ward off the odor. Schultz, who works for Perrault Corp. of Bonsall, drove one of three dump trucks that were lined up and waiting to be filled. In the distance the excavator and other heavy equipment looked like Tonka toys toiling away on the beach.

*Story/Photo By: the Associated Press | April 30, 2016 | 9:35 AM EDT