Whale carcass shuts City Beach as several sharks spotted circling nearby, prompting urgent public warning

Several large sharks have been spotted circling after a whale became beached off the coast of City Beach.

The giant mammal, believed to be a humpback whale, became stranded about 7.30am on Monday, attracting at least two sharks which could be seen swimming just metres offshore.

Surf Life Saving WA issued a shark advice warning before closing City Beach between the Floreat Drain Carpark and Bodmin Avenue, with more than 100 locals flocking to the beach to catch a glimpse of the decomposing carcass.

A patrol boat was seen monitoring a stretch of ocean between South City Beach and Floreat Beach, with a Westpac Rescue Helicopter also seen traversing the same stretch of coastline.

A Surf Life Saving WA 4WD patrol car was also seen driving slowly along the beach, monitoring the public.

The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development had initially warned the carcass could act as an attractant to sharks and see them come close to shore along the coast surrounding City Beach in the Town of Cambridge. How right they were.

People should “exercise additional caution”, the department said.

Cambridge Town Mayor Gary Mack said the whale would likely be removed, transported and disposed in a landfill site on Tuesday morning.

He said the Town — which was the responsible agency as the relevant land manager — was continuing to work with several agencies including Surf Life Saving WA.

“We’ve had the officials down there today, and they have given advice as to what we do tomorrow morning,” he said.

“The options are being discussed now, but the preliminary thinking is that the carcass will be removed rather than towed out to sea.

“The third option being that the carcass sometimes washing itself back out to sea, but that doesn’t seem (likely) because it seems to be pretty well-wedged there.”

He said the beach would likely remain closed until the whale was removed, noting a drone operator had even seen bite marks on parts of the carcass.

“Wild carcasses attract sharks, and people nor their pets should actually go into the water at all while the beach is closed and should look after their personal safety,” he said.

Whale Watch Western Australia owner Gemma Sharp reported the whale to authorities after spotting the dead mammal about four nautical miles off the coast of Scarborough Beach during a tour about 4.30pm on Sunday.

She said she was disappointed the whale — which she described as “young” — was left to become stranded rather than be towed out to sea, adding the carcass would likely attract “hundreds” of sharks.

“In light of recent events with the attack of the poor gentleman earlier on, we were really hoping that the carcass would at least be attempted to be towed out back to sea,” she told The West.

“The thing is, with whale carcasses, it is a big part of the ecosystem ... if you tow it a fair way off, then the carcass will sink, and that keeps the sharks happy and keeps them off the coast.

“The issue we have now is this huge shark attractant because the smell is very very strong, it will attract hundreds of sharks that will travel for many miles to the area to feed.”

She warned the whale’s scent could remain in the area for several weeks, and cautioned swimmers to be vigilant.

“Sharks will linger in the area for as long as that scent remains, and if (the whale) is sitting on the beach, the scent will settle into that area, it doesn’t just disappear when the whale goes,” she said.

“If a whale was to decompose in a natural setting, it takes many, many weeks ... so when we remove whales from areas, that scent will linger for a period of time.”

Ms Sharp said death was a natural part of migration, and said 45,000 humpback whales were currently migrating along the WA coastline.

“Unfortunately, not every whale will make it,” she said.

“We were able to have a really close observation of the carcass, so we could see the sharks feeding which was quite amazing, but we were just checking the whale itself, and we couldn’t see any entanglement or orca scarring or injuries, so perhaps something more internal caused the whale to pass.”

One local said she saw the carcass drift about 300 metres before ending up on the beach where it began emanating a strong odour.

Philia Diamantidakis and Sophie Wormald were walking their dogs when they coincidentally happened upon the decomposing carcass.

“We saw that there was a very big crowd, so we were wondering what was happening, and there was a large whale at the beach with a lot of sharks,” Ms Diamantidakis said.

Ms Wormald said the shark activity would only feed people’s anxieties about swimming.

“It’s going to be unusual summer at the beach. I think people are a little bit worried, and this is not going to help,” she said.

Oscar and Lydia Moss made the trek down from Carine after seeing the carcass on the news and had been revelling in the excitement of seeing huge sharks up close.

“There was two, and they came up and tried to have a go. They’re bigger than I thought they were going to be, they look big, massive. I wanted to see some action, it’s exciting,” Ms Moss said.

“I’m actually a bit scared, but other than that, it’s pretty cool.”

Ms Moss said she would make sure to stay close to shore when swimming in the ocean from now on.

Mr Moss was less concerned.

“You’ve got more chance of dying in a car crash, don’t you? If you’re not scared to get on the road, you shouldn’t be scared to get in the water,” he said.

English tourists Millie Redshaw and Hope Collins-Wright came down from Tuart Hill to see their first experience of a whale carcass and sharks.

“We wanted to see what the fuss was about, and because we never seen a shark since living here, this is like the most exciting thing that could happen while living in Perth,” Ms Redshaw said.

“This has made our weekend, to be honest, you can tell we’re English!” Ms Collins-Wright said.

The SharkSmart website showed multiple in the area following the discovery, including a four-metre white shark at 10.46am just 10 metres offshore spotted by the Westpac helicopter.

Lifesavers spotted a 2.5 metre unidentifiable shark at 9.12am and said it was “circling” 10 metres offshore while a five metre shark was seen at 8.29am also about 10 metres from shore, heading south.

The public has been instructed to adhere to beach closures advised by council rangers, Parks and Wildlife, or Surf Life Saving WA.

Shark activity can be monitored on the SharkSmart website and any shark sightings should be reported to Water Police on 9442 8600.

DPIRD and staff from other agencies are monitoring the situation and providing advice to relevant authorities.

The shark threat comes 10 days after much loved family man Greg O’Neill, 63, was killed by a great white shark while swimming just 15 metres from shore at Sorrento Beach.