Rotten whale towed to sea (Australia)

Malabar pool and beach remains closed.

6 Sep 11 (VANESSA WATSON). A PARTIAL whale carcass that washed up at the rock pool at Malabar beach on Thursday was towed to sea on Saturday, a Randwick Council spokesman said.

Council staff used ropes and jet skis at high tide to move the 1.5 tonnes of rotten remains about two kilometres out to sea.

The beach and rock pool remained closed on Monday while council staff continued to clean the site, but was expected to reopen today, Tuesday September 6.

The badly decomposing carcass was discovered by swimmers wedged between rocks at the rock pool and prompted Randwick Council to close the beach and pool.

On Friday, a council spokeswoman said the remains could be from the 12-metre sperm whale carcass which washed up close to the rock pool at Palm Beach on August 21.

She said efforts to remove the remains were hampered last week due to the sheer size of the carcass and the fact council waste management teams were unaccustomed to removing whales from difficult places.

“We can’t just go down there and remove it with out own hands, it’s ridiculously heavy,” she said. “It’s just a matter of logistics. It’s not every day that a whale washes up on the beach.”

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