Whale remains may go to museum

2 Aug 2012, 3:38 pm   -   Source: AAP
A dead humpback whale has been washed out of the ocean pool and onto Newport Beach in Sydney (AAP)

A dead humpback whale has been washed out of the ocean pool and onto Newport Beach in Sydney (AAP)

Parts of a humpback whale that washed up dead on a northern Sydney beach will be used for education or museum displays.

Parts of a humpback whale that washed up dead on a northern Sydney beach will be used for education or museum displays.

The 10-metre, 20-tonne male, believed to be aged between five and seven years, was found lodged in an ocean pool at Newport Beach on Wednesday.

High tides washed the carcass onto the beach later in the day and on Thursday it was cut into pieces by National Parks and Wildlife Services officers using chainsaws.

Geoff Ross, NPWS coordinator of marine and fauna programs, said analysis of the blubber showed it was malnourished when it died.

However, he said because of its advanced stage of decomposition whatever caused the young whale's death would never be known.

Mr Ross said some bits of the carcass, including the tail, had been removed from the beach but the remaining pieces had been temporarily buried in dunes and would be dug up and transferred to a waste disposal facility at Lucas Heights on Friday.

"A temporary holding pit has been created at the back of the dune area ... the council will pick those up tomorrow and place them on a truck and dispose of it,' he said.

"Parts of the whale, such as the jaw bone, might be displayed in a museum or used as part of an NPWS educational program."

Authorities from Taronga Zoo, NPWS and Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia (ORRCA) were at the scene while the whale was being chopped up.

Hundreds of spectators also watched the gory carve-up from behind a cordoned-off area about 10 metres away.

NPWS acting regional manager Peter Hayes said its officers decided against towing the whale out to sea to avoid the putrid, decomposing carcass turning up on a Central Coast beach.

"We felt that with the sea running it could likely end up on the central coast or beyond in a more putrefied state," he told the ABC.

Mr Hayes said it was the second whale to turn up in the area in 13 months.

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