![\"Roy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/4b120f01bfcad445ac4e167fbd2673f2c54d0a24.png\")
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Authorities have warned people to avoid Bells Beach after a decaying whale carcass washed up there on Sunday, raising concerns sharks could flock to the waters.<\/p>\n Vic Emergency issued a warning a little after 2pm on Sunday about the carcass, temporarily closing the world-famous surf beach along with surf spot Winkipop due to the possibility of sharks appearing in the waters to feed on the carcass.<\/p>\n The Victorian Fisheries Authority is monitoring the area for any shark appearances and they have warned people to stay out of the water while the closures are in place.<\/p>\n \u201cDue to a whale carcass there could be an increase in shark activity at Bells Beach and Winkipop,\u201d Vic Emergency wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cA whale carcass can attract sharks to the area and mean they are closer to the shore than normal.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile it is not uncommon for sharks to be present off the Victorian coast, you should exercise additional caution in the area.\u201d<\/p>\n The Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action – Barwon South West region said it was working with locals to remove the carcass.<\/p>\n \u201cA DEECA incident management team is working with Wadawurrung traditional owners, the land manager GORCAPA, and other stakeholders to plan for its removal,\u201d DEECA wrote in a Facebook post.<\/p>\n \u201cThe area has been closed for public safety reasons until the completion of the operation.\u201d<\/p>\n Be the first to know when major news happens. Sign up for breaking news alerts<\/a> on email or turn on notifications in the app.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/67a9fbb42f55bcd02f142214018973ecebd05164.jpeg\")
A whale carcass washed up on Bells Beach forcing the temporary closure of the beach. Dean Snow<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/8d14e07ba7bd674ac19f7e119dccf8c4fcb345ce.jpeg\")
A whale carcass has washed up on Bells Beach triggering warnings and beach closures on Sunday.Dean Snow<\/p>\n![\"Roy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771772598_238_4b120f01bfcad445ac4e167fbd2673f2c54d0a24.png\")
Roy Ward<\/a> is a sports writer, live blogger and breaking news journalist. He’s been writing for The Age since 2010.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":750993,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-750992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=750992"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750992\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/750993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=750992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=750992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=750992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}