Carcass of 12-metre whale to be dug up from beach after outcry

Authorities in the Australian coastal town of Port Macquarie will dig up the carcass of a 12-metre, 20-tonne humpback whale from a local beach and dump it in landfill because of fears the animal is attracting sharks.

On Friday, officials at the Port Macquarie Hastings Council announced that the body of the whale, which was buried as an “option of last resort” after it washed up on Nobbys Beach in the beach town in New South Wales on Sunday, would be removed following an outcry from local residents.

In a statement, the council said the whale would be dug up, cut into pieces using chainsaws and then placed in skip bins.

Once full, the bins will be lifted off the beach using a 220-tonne crane and then taken to a waste facility 25 kilometres away.

The council’s general manager, Craig Swift-McNair, said it would be “a hard and smelly job”.

“This is going to be a challenging job but council recognises it is a high priority for many in our community,” he said.

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Work will begin on Monday, but Swift-McNair conceded there were “a number of unknowns that will affect the timing of the operation” and that it would probably take more than a day to complete.

The whale was buried on the beach after strong winds and a retreating tide prevented Marine Rescue Port Stephens and the National Parks and Wildlife Service from towing it out to sea.

But the decision outraged the town’s residents, who feared the leachate from the animal would find its way into the water and attract sharks.

The council agreed to exhume the whale after the owner of a local surf school, Corey Enfield, presented a petition signed by more than 3,000 people.

The belief that whale burials are linked to shark sightings is popular among surfers but has never been tested.

Beaches in the town have been closed since the animal was buried and the New South Wales Department of Industry said there had been between one and four shark detections at Port Macquarie each day since Sunday.

Citing “safety reasons”, the council said it would prevent members of the public or the media from watching the whale being exhumed, including the use of drones.