Arabic version: إزالة حوت نافق من سيتي بيتش تمثل تحدياً مكلفاً

According to ABC News, the Town of Cambridge faces a difficult and potentially expensive task after a dead whale washed ashore at City Beach in Perth. The 13-metre whale is estimated to weigh 31 tonnes, and its carcass has closed the popular beach to swimmers as its scent in open waters may attract sharks.

University of Western Australia marine biologist Kate Sprogis said the usual disposal options are towing a carcass back out to sea or taking it to landfill. Conditions at sea could determine which option is possible, she said, because large swells, weather or wind may prevent officials from getting a sufficiently large boat out to tow it.

Town of Cambridge Mayor Gary Mack has been warned the operation is likely to be costly. In 2014, cleaning up a whale carcass at Scarborough Beach cost $188,000, with the state government paying half after then-mayor Giovanni Italiano sought support. Dr Sprogis said large animals full of blubber are particularly attractive to sharks, meaning the beach may remain closed until the carcass is removed.

Dr Sprogis said the death was not unusual during humpback whale migration season, which typically runs through September and October. A necropsy is generally needed to establish a cause of death, although a whale without obvious trauma could have died naturally. Dead whales can float as gases build up in their bodies, and westerly winds may push floating animals ashore.

While carcasses can provide valuable samples for researchers, decomposition limits the analyses that can be completed. The whale has drawn hundreds of onlookers over two days and was expected to be removed from City Beach that morning.