Little Irvy was a traveling sideshow attraction in the United States from late 1967 until the mid-1990s. The body of the 20-ton sperm whale was hauled around the country by trucker Jerry "Tyrone" Malone in Old Blue, a refrigerated tractor-trailer. [1]
The whale was purchased in 1967 for $6,000 from the Del-Monte Fishing Company, which had captured the whale off the coast of Santa Barbara, California, with plans to sell the carcass for dog food. After the whale was harpooned, it was frozen by pumping 40 tons of liquid nitrogen pumped throughout the carcass. [3] : 333 It was then kept in a glass tank in the refrigerated truck, with a sign reading "This Exhibit Is Dedicated to the Preservation of Whales". [3] : 333 Despite the name, Irvy was a female whale specimen. [4]
On July 9, 1967, the frozen whale made its debut at San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf, and traveled the state fair and roadside attraction circuit for over 25 years.
After Malone's death in 1997, Little Irvy was buried in Tulare, California. [4]
Refrigeration is any of various types of cooling of a space, substance, or system to lower and/or maintain its temperature below the ambient one. Refrigeration is an artificial, or human-made, cooling method.
There have been several cases of exploding whale carcasses due to a buildup of gas in the decomposition process. This would occur if a whale stranded itself ashore. Actual explosives have also been used to assist in disposing of whale carcasses, ordinarily after towing the carcass out to sea, and as part of a beach cleaning effort. It was reported as early as 1928, when an attempt to preserve a carcass failed due to faulty chemical usages.
A reefer ship is a refrigerated cargo ship typically used to transport perishable cargo, which require temperature-controlled handling, such as fruits, meat, vegetables, dairy products, and similar items.
Phoenix Raceway is a 1.000 mi (1.609 km) dogleg oval track in Avondale, Arizona. The track has held a variety of events since its opening in 1964, including NASCAR, IndyCar, and CART races. It has a 42,000-seat capacity as of 2019. Phoenix Raceway is currently owned by NASCAR and is led by track president Latasha Causey.
A refrigerator car is a refrigerated boxcar (U.S.), a piece of railroad rolling stock designed to carry perishable freight at specific temperatures. Refrigerator cars differ from simple insulated boxcars and ventilated boxcars, neither of which are fitted with cooling apparatus. Reefers can be ice-cooled, come equipped with any one of a variety of mechanical refrigeration systems, or use carbon dioxide or liquid nitrogen as a cooling agent. Milk cars may or may not include a cooling system, but are equipped with high-speed trucks and other modifications that allow them to travel with passenger trains.
A whale fall occurs when the carcass of a whale has fallen onto the ocean floor, typically at a depth greater than 1,000 m (3,300 ft), putting them in the bathyal or abyssal zones. On the sea floor, these carcasses can create complex localized ecosystems that supply sustenance to deep-sea organisms for decades. In some circumstances, particularly in cases with lower water temperatures, they can be found at much shallower depths, with at least one natural instance recorded at 150 m and multiple experimental instances in the range of 30–382 m (100–1,300 ft). Whale falls were first observed in the late 1970s with the development of deep-sea robotic exploration. Since then, several natural and experimental whale falls have been monitored through the use of observations from submersibles and remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs) in order to understand patterns of ecological succession on the deep seafloor.
The Palo Verde Generating Station is a nuclear power plant located near Tonopah, Arizona about 45 miles (72 km) west of downtown Phoenix. Palo Verde generates the most electricity of any power plant in the United States per year, and is the largest power plant by net generation as of 2021. Palo Verde has the third-highest rated capacity of any U.S power plant. It is a critical asset to the Southwest, generating approximately 32 million megawatt-hours annually.
Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum, also called the Madhouse Coliseum or Phoenix Memorial Coliseum, is a 14,870-seat multi-purpose indoor arena in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, located at the Arizona State Fairgrounds. It hosted the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association from 1968 to 1992, as well as indoor soccer, professional roller hockey, multiple professional minor league ice hockey teams, and roller derby.
A cold chain is a supply chain that uses refrigeration to maintain perishable goods, such as pharmaceuticals, produce or other goods that are temperature-sensitive. Common goods, sometimes called cool cargo, distributed in cold chains include fresh agricultural produce, seafood, frozen food, photographic film, chemicals, and pharmaceutical products. The objective of a cold chain is to preserve the integrity and quality of goods such as pharmaceutical products or perishable good from production to consumption.
The Thing is an Arizona roadside attraction extensively advertised by signs along Interstate 10 between El Paso, Texas, and Tucson, Arizona. The object, supposedly a mummified mother and child, is believed to have been made by exhibit creator Homer Tate for sideshows.
Maori was a British refrigerated cargo steamship built in 1893 by C.S. Swan & Hunter of Wallsend-on-Tyne for Shaw, Saville & Albion Co. of London with intention of transporting frozen meat and produce from Australia and New Zealand to the United Kingdom. The vessel stayed on this trade route through her entire career. In August 1909 while on one of her regular trips, she was wrecked on the coast of South Africa with the loss of thirty two of her crew.
The St. Augustine Monster is the name given to a large carcass, originally postulated to be the remains of a gigantic octopus, that washed ashore on the United States coast near St. Augustine, Florida in 1896. It is sometimes referred to as the Florida Monster or the St. Augustine Giant Octopus and is one of the earliest recorded examples of a globster. The species that the carcass supposedly represented has been assigned the binomial names Octopus giganteus and Otoctopus giganteus, although these are not valid under the rules of the ICZN.
Swift Transportation is a Phoenix, Arizona-based American truckload motor shipping carrier, part of Knight-Swift. With over 23,000 trucks, it is the largest common carrier in the United States. In 2017, Swift merged with Knight Transportation, also of Phoenix.
Tucson Speedway is a 0.375 mi (0.604 km) paved oval racetrack located at the Pima County Fairgrounds, off Interstate 10 just south of Tucson, Arizona. It is one of only three paved ovals in the state of Arizona.
A refrigerator truck or chiller lorry, is a van or truck designed to carry perishable freight at low temperatures. Most long-distance refrigerated transport by truck is done in articulated trucks pulling refrigerated hardside (box) semi-trailers, although insulated curtainsiders are common in some countries. Occasionally, refrigerated trailers have been used as temporary morgues, and second-hand refrigerated trailers are frequently sold for use in tiny home conversions due to their insulation and existing status as a vehicle.
Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. is a publicly traded American motor carrier holding company based in Phoenix, Arizona. It is the fourth largest trucking company in the United States. The company's primary subsidiaries are truckload carriers Knight Transportation, Swift Transportation, Midnite Express and, since July 2021, less than truckload (LTL) carrier AAA Cooper. In January 2022, the company expanded its LTL footprint with the acquisition of Midwest Motor Express. In July, 2023 Knight-Swift acquired truckload carrier US Xpress.
The Dunedin (1874–90) was the first ship to successfully transport a full cargo of refrigerated meat from New Zealand to England. In this capacity, it provided the impetus to develop the capacity of New Zealand as a major provider of agricultural exports, notwithstanding its remoteness from most markets. Dunedin disappeared at sea in 1890.
A factory ship, also known as a fish processing vessel, is a large ocean-going vessel with extensive on-board facilities for processing and freezing caught fish or whales. Modern factory ships are automated and enlarged versions of the earlier whalers, and their use for fishing has grown dramatically. Some factory ships are equipped to serve as a mother ship.
Tecolutla is a town and municipality located on the Tecolutla River on the eastern coast of the state of Veracruz in Mexico. It has the closest beaches to Mexico City, and much of its economy is based on tourism, as it is only a four- or five-hour drive from the capital. It is the northern end of a tourist corridor along the Gulf of Mexico called the "Emerald Coast," which extends down to the city of Veracruz.
