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| The carcass, believed to weigh up to 12 tonnes, beached on a rock platform at Newport near Sydney's northern beaches |
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A 12-tonne sperm whale has washed up dead on a popular Sydney beach.
The whale is so large - it measures a hefty 32 ft long - that it will have to be cut into chunks and removed from Newport Beach in pieces because it is too unwieldy to tow out to sea.
The beach has been closed because blood washing from the whale into the water has attracted scores of sharks to the area which is popular with surfers and swimmers. Some sharks could be seen thrashing about yards from the rock platform where the whale had washed up.
While council workers and the New South Wales Parks and Wildlife Service are keen to move the carcass as quickly as possible, they have been unable to move the dead whale out the sea because it has lost its tail, possibly due to shark attack, and is now so badly decomposed that it is impossible to attach a tow rope to it.
Its position, wedged on a rock platform under a cliff has also made moving the whale difficult.
Officials initially hoped that the tide would wash the remains of the animal back out to sea, but that has not happened.
Instead, the local council has settled on the grim task of cutting the whale into several pieces and dragging them, one by one, off the rocks.
The gruesome operation will take place on Friday, not a moment too soon for Newport residents, who have been struggling with the smell of rotting flesh wafting through their streets for three days.
It is not known how the 15-year-old whale died but it is believed to have been dead for some time.
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