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Whale washes up at Kalbarri

Imogen Caldwell and the beached dead whale at Red Bluff, Kalbarri. Picture: Kerby Brown/www.thebrownbrothers.com

A 12m humpback whale washed up on a popular Kalbarri beach on Wednesday night, bringing with it a school of sharks and a steady stream of onlookers.

The whale was barely breathing and had horrific injuries, including shark bites, when it washed up on Red Bluff beach about 9pm.

It died soon after it reached the sand, leaving the Shire of Northampton with the mammoth task of trying to remove it.

Contractors, who were called in from Geraldton, yesterday spent hours trying to lift the whale on to a truck so it could be disposed of inland.

A school of sharks could be seen close to shore throughout the day during the operation.

The whale also attracted hundreds of people to the beach, including tourists who were in town ahead of this weekend's Zest Festival.

Local Nicole Jardine said onlookers were "gobsmacked" by the size of the whale and the bite marks on its skin.

Samples have been taken from the animal to determine its age and feeding patterns.

The shire's manager of works Neil Broadhurst said the whale weighed about 15,000kg.

"Moving it has been a pretty frustrating job because it's very sandy and boggy and hard to get to," he said. "We had to pull it by the tail and, without being too gruesome, it's basically down to the bone."