A juvenile humpback whale that has been beached on the New South Wales mid-north coast for more than a day will be euthanised.
Rough sea conditions had put a hold on attempts to rescue the whale on Sataurday.
Beachgoers spotted the whale, weighing about 10 tonnes, in the surf at Sawtell Beach, south of Coffs Harbour, early on Friday and it washed closer to shore about 7am.
Rescuers had planned to refloat the whale in Saturday morning’s high tide, which was scheduled for just after 8am, but rough sea conditions hindered the rescue effort, National Parks and Wildlife Service said.
“The conditions are so bad that we can’t use a vessel and we can’t put people in the water because it is too dangerous to have people in the surf with a large whale like this,” NPWS spokesman Lawrence Orel said.
He had said conditions were likely to remain rough over the next few days.
Rescuers had stayed on the beach overnight to monitor the whale after rescue groups and a vet battled bad weather on site on Friday.
On Saturday, the “really tough decision” was made to euthanise the whale, a spokeswoman from the Office of Environment and Heritage said.
She said a large group of marine mammal experts had assessed the situation and made the call after rough sea conditions hindered rescue attempts.
“Everything’s been against this poor thing,” she said.