Locals furious over stench of rotting whale buried on beach by council
A buried rotting whale carcass has attracted a swarm of great white sharks to a New South Wales beach amid cries from "fiery" residents complaining about the smell.
At least 21 sharks have been spotted at the popular Nobbys Beach near Port Macquarie, possibly lured by the stench of the decomposing whale that died there on the weekend.
The 18-tonne humpback carcass was too big to be moved, so the council decided to bury it on the beach.
Furious locals who were complaining about the smell earlier in the week now say they have to worry about sharks camping out in the waters off their beach.
A petition to remove the whale carcass from Nobbys Beach has attracted more than 2300 signatures.
Port Macquarie-Hastings Council has since said that due to the community backlash it will now consider other alternatives, including exhuming the whale.
Earlier today, defending the council’s call, Geoff Shelton from Port Macquarie Marine Rescue said there has been “no option” but to bury the beast.
“Time was the biggest problem,” he told Sunrise on Thursday.
“There was no stench but the issue now is the sharks.”
Mr Shelton said that while locals fear the whale’s decomposing flesh was leaching into the ocean and “attracting more sharks”, the science on this was still out.
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“Unfortunately there is just not enough research done into this,” Mr Shelton said.
“There was a New Zealand study many years ago that said there is a possibility that it happens.”
The Marine Rescue spokesman said emotions have been “running pretty high - almost to the point of hysteria”, with many locals calling for the whale to be dug up and moved to a tip.
“There was a pretty fiery council meeting last night, with the best option may just be to dig the whale up and take it to landfill,” Mr Shelton said.
“But that’s all based on emotion and hysteria, as I said.”
Mr Shelton said that despite whales being buried on beaches up and down the coast for many years, any shark attack that occurs in the near future would likely be blamed on the whale at Nobbys Beach.
“The problem with this is that is if there was a shark attack in the next few months – all hell would break loose.”
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