Swimming has been banned at Sydney’s Coogee and Maroubra beaches after a decomposing whale carcass was found floating against the rocky shoreline at Lurline Bay, between the two popular eastern-suburbs beaches. Randwick Council said the closures would remain in place until further notice while lifeguards and authorities assessed the risk and planned how to move the animal.
The carcass was spotted on Thursday morning in a difficult-to-access area surrounded by cliffs and rock ledges. It had become lodged in a crevice as the tide fell, and a rope was visible around one of its pectoral fins. The animal was in an advanced state of decomposition, making access for machinery or vessels difficult. Council was also considering restricting access to nearby sections of the coastal walkway as people gathered to view it.
The whale has not been formally identified, although council described it as a baby and marine scientist Vanessa Pirotta said it appeared more likely to be a young adult or teenage humpback. Pirotta warned that sharks could be attracted to the carcass and advised people not to swim in the area. She also said whale sightings were expected during the migration period, when a larger population was passing through coastal waters.
Rob Cooley of the La Perouse-based Gamay Rangers said the group had responded after being called by council. He said the whale was effectively falling apart and that the ocean conditions and location prevented an immediate recovery. Cultural advisers were expected to attend for a ceremony because humpback whales are culturally significant to local Indigenous communities.
The Sydney carcass follows other whale strandings on the New South Wales coast this year. A juvenile humpback calf found at Greenhills Beach in July tested negative for H5N1 bird flu, while a much larger, partly decomposed sperm-whale carcass led to several Royal National Park beaches being closed in April after increased shark activity was reported. In the Lurline Bay case, authorities had not confirmed the whale’s cause of death or set out a final removal method.