Australia: 32 feet dead
sperm whale washes up on Sydney beach
The carcass, believed to weigh up to 12 tonnes, beached on a rock
platform at Newport near Sydney's northern beaches Photo:
AFP/GETTY IMAGES
By Bonnie Malkin, Sydney 12:17PM BST 28 Apr 2011
The Telegraph UK
The whale is so large - it measures a hefty 32 ft long - that it
will have to be cut into chunks and removed from Newport Beach in
pieces because it is too unwieldy to tow out to sea.
The beach has been closed because blood washing from the whale
into the water has attracted scores of sharks to the area which is
popular with surfers and swimmers. Some sharks could be seen
thrashing about yards from the rock platform where the whale had
washed up.
While council workers and the New South Wales Parks and Wildlife
Service are keen to move the carcass as quickly as possible, they
have been unable to move the dead whale out the sea because it has
lost its tail, possibly due to shark attack, and is now so badly
decomposed that it is impossible to attach a tow rope to it.
Its position, wedged on a rock platform under a cliff has also
made moving the whale difficult.
Officials initially hoped that the tide would wash the remains of
the animal back out to sea, but that has not happened.
Instead, the local council has settled on the grim task of cutting
the whale into several pieces and dragging them, one by one, off
the rocks.
The gruesome operation will take place on Friday, not a moment too
soon for Newport residents, who have been struggling with the
smell of rotting flesh wafting through their streets for three
days.
It is not known how the 15-year-old whale died but it is believed
to have been dead for some time.