PERTH – Swimmers and surfers were warned to stay clear of a popular Australian beach while sharks feasted on an 80-tonne whale carcass. Authorities said it could take the sharks up to two months to chew up the 24-metre whale, which was too big to move. „We‘re lucky it isn‘t a full-grown blue whale, then it could weigh as much as 200 tonnes,“ Nigel Higgs of Conservation of Land Management of Western Australia, a government body, told Reuters.

The carcass washed up on the northern end of Contos beach in the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park 350 km south west of Perth, Higgs said. It was unclear how the whale had died but there were no signs of injury, Higgs said. „There will be sharks around for some time to feed on the body as it decomposes,“ he said. „It will take about two months for the sharks and other fish to eat it. It won‘t be safe to swim, but it might be good for fishing – although it might smell a bit,“ he added.

The beach is typically packed with surfers, although low waves over the last several days have kept most enthusiasts out of the water. „I was down there and it really stunk,“ Joe Trainas of the Surf Scene surf shop in neighbouring Margaret River said. „But you can bet if the waves get good, there will be plenty of us out.“ Reuters