Whale carcass at Geraldton’s Greys Beach transported to tip after lengthy removal process

The dead whale that washed ashore at Geraldton’s Greys Beach has been removed, following a two-day operation.

The estimated 20-tonne carcass was first spotted on Monday last week, with the beach north of Separation Point closed at the site.

Work commenced on Monday this week to get the whale off the beach, but was postponed after one crane was not enough to safely lift it.

The whale was instead moved to the Separation Point entrance, with work continuing on Tuesday morning to move it.

Two cranes were required to lift the whale onto the truck, with the crew working for more than an hour to get it lifted and secured.

Dozens of onlookers passed through to catch a glimpse of the event, with many braving the wet and windy conditions to snap a photo of the whale.

City of Greater Geraldton chief executive Ross McKim said it had been the most difficult whale removal in more than a decade.

““The management of dead whales this size is difficult, we can manage smaller whales with our own equipment, but this was probably the heaviest whale we’ve had to remove in at least ten years,” he said.

“There were many considerations that the City needed to assess before the carcass could be removed including its formidable size, its distance from the nearest beach access point and the availability of machinery large enough to move the carcass to where it could be loaded onto a truck and taken to landfill.

“As it turned out, a six wheel drive vehicle was needed to drag the carcass 800m to Separation Point where two large cranes working together were needed in order to load the whale onto a truck and deliver it safely to Meru Waste Management Facility.”

The city will review the event and adjust protocols for whale carcass removals for future clean-ups.

The whale was among a number of whales to wash up along Mid West shores in recent weeks.

Last month, a baby humpback whale was euthanised after being beached near Greenough River Mouth Beach after local wildlife staff determined it had zero chance of survival.

Earlier this month, a baby whale was found dead at Ten Mile Beach near Dongara.

DBCA Mid West regional leader for conservation Anthony Desmond recently told the Geraldton Guardian it was a sign of a healthy whale population.

“Numbers have grown massively in the last couple of decades, and we’re talking in excess of 45,000 humpback whales in the Western Australian population travelling up and down,” he said.

“It’s a fairly drawn out process, because they’re all travelling at different speeds, and they’re calving at different times, and so you tend to get a lot of animals.”