Behold The “Fatberg!”
Yes, it’s EXACTLY what you fear it is: this week’s “WHAT THE FRIDAY?!?!?!” journeys to a wonderful seaside down in England called Sidmouth:
A beautiful shoreline, right? Well, as every good “WTF” story knows, there’s more than meets the eye.
As Atlas Obscura reported:
“IT LOOKED AND SOUNDED A bit like the inside of a cave—dark, damp, dripping—but it smelled to high heaven. When flashlight beams fell across gray-brown mounds rising from the floor, the light wasn’t striking stalagmites, but waterlogged heaps of gloopy, congealed wipes, oil, and grease that snagged and languished in the pipes.”
Let’s ponder this for a moment. We all know what an iceberg is: that thing that bumped into the Titanic and look how that ended. A blob of ice that floats harmlessly above the water, except for the massive hunk of ice below the surface…
Remember that one that stopped by a town in Newfoundland for a visit? Massive – and beautiful! Then, there is this:
The Fatberg!
As Atlas Obscura went on to report:
“The sewer in the seaside town of Sidmouth, England, was clogged by a fatberg. It was squishy, rank, and hefty: When it was discovered back in December, the local utility company South West Water estimated that it snaked 210 feet underground, making it the largest they’d ever encountered, and among the closest to the shore. “Thankfully it has been identified in good time with no risk to bathing waters,” Andrew Roantree, the utility’s director of wastewater, said in a statement at the time.”
Terrific, if smelly, reporting, and a little more investigation led me to a YouTube video that stated:
“An unwanted Christmas present of hardened fat, oil and wet-wipes longer than six double-decker buses, has been discovered in a Sidmouth sewer under The Esplanade.”
Here you go, see for yourself:
Well. I’m happy to report that the “FATBERG” has been destroyed – removed from the town’s sewers, retrungin this bucolic village to its previous, non-fatberg life.
If this sort of “What The Friday” tale fascinates you as much as it does me, you can read the entire story at the Atlas Obscura website, where they share so many incredible stories about the world we live in!
As you may or may not know, every week I seek a “What The Friday!?!” story that reminds me of just how wacky this world is…for example:
The “Poo Museum” Is Now Open!
I shared this story about a new museum begging created in Japan, and I am excited to announce that the poo museum is now indeed open! See where and why by clicking here:
Hey, I’d go see it!
Let me know if you’d make a special “What The Friday” trip to get a glimpse of a “Fatberg!”
Categories: Books / Media, Exotic Travel, Food, Funny Pictures, nature, Pop Culture, Travel, Travel Adventures, Travel Memoir, Wacky Food
I get fatburgs in my garbage disposal. LOL! Glad they got rid of it!
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Ugh. I feel sorry for the bloke who had to chip it away!
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As you might imagine, the ‘Sidmouth Fatberg’ has been big news over here! More so perhaps because the town is a beautiful coastal resort, and one of the foremost traditional holiday areas in Britain.
https://www.visitsouthdevon.co.uk/places/sidmouth-p190163
But all that fish and chips has had a terrible consequence on the sewers. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Pete, they certainly aren’t alone, these exist all around the world – I just found their story fascinating, especially with the video! Thanks for commenting!
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