Mornington Peninsula beach closed due to dead whale
On the cusp of the summer school holidays, a beach on the Mornington Peninsula has been closed after a dead whale washed up on shore.
Authorities closed Diamond Bay Beach near Sorrento on Monday after the 14-metre carcass was spotted at Jubilee Point Cliffs in the Mornington Peninsula National Park.
The appearance of the carcass comes two months after four similar events occurred at Port Macquarie, Ballina, Kilcunda, and Wurtulla on the Sunshine Coast. In three of those instances the carcass was buried only to be swiftly exhumed following community uproar. The concern being a slowly decomposing whale carcass would attract sharks to the area.
At the time, Swellnet contacted the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), the agency that's the first port of call when whales are beached in NSW, but they were unable to identify a fixed protocol. Whales have always beached themselves but the connection to shark behaviour is new, hence the NPWS's blind spot.
Victoria's Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) is attending to the Diamond Beach whale and they've been presented with a new set of problems.
For one, the whale is lying at the base of a cliff, surrounded by reef so getting an excavator in to either bury or remove the whale is difficult.
Also, not only is the beach closed, but the walking track above it too. "An event like this does not happen every day and there has been a lot of interest in the whale with many people attempting to reach the edge of the Point Jubilee cliff to try and catch a glimpse," DELWP spokesman Dan White said.
Mr White said the whale carcass would remain at the base of the cliffs while the department decided how to move it.
"Moving a whale of this size is a complex task and we are weighing up all the available options," he said.
Meanwhile, as Victorian authorities weigh their actions, footage has surfaced from the other end of Australia showing a crocodile and a shark feeding on a whale off the Kimberley coast:
Comments
Haha. Good luck getting any machinery to where the whale is. Theres no buring it there as there isnt a beach. Think its gonna get smelly before theres a solution
Actually. Helicopter haha?
4 similar events ?
Guess we can forget about the whale decomposing at angourie back beach then.
There was a fun lil left just off the creek the other day that i just couldnt bring myself to surf. Lol.
A very difficult location to access, definitely no beach to bury it. Possibly have to drag it out into the water and tow the carcass to a more accessible location, which in itself would make a nice burley trail for toothy visitors.
I don’t think they would even get a boat in there to drag it out. There isn’t to many flat days to be able to do it.
Maybe a good time for shark fishing off the edge of the reef?
what are the odds they will do this?
only option would be to tow-it out to sea on high tide- at least should keep the Abalone poachers away for a while!
I believe they are weighing up 2 options. One it is taken away and the skeleton be kept for a science museum or if it cannot be removed (and it is in a difficult position to extract) to tow it towards Gunanamatta....
Why would they tow it towards gunnamatta? And not just straight out to sea
That sounds rediculous
Not sure of the rationale, but will investigate ...... you may also know that mako fishing is popular off Gunna..... and this will improve a lot if this happens! Not sure i would been too keen to surf at Gunna or Rye for a while if this did occur!
Let's hope the carcass is removed for a museum...
Goofy, the big issue is access to the area, as you appear to know.... also the size of boat (thrust) required to move 14 tonnes an off the beach.... let alone finding calm conditions to do so. I would be very surprised if it got towed. There was another on heyfield beach a few years ago, I stupidly surfed whilst it was still on the beach rotting and the water stank and was very eery. I wouldn't be surprised if both options fail and it is left to decompose....
its gotta be helicopter style please
https://m.
Just call Hancock:
Easiest and cheapest option would be if Parks Victoria just put on a free Japanese Beach BBQ