{"id":620003,"date":"2026-09-10T04:22:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T04:22:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/620003\/"},"modified":"2026-09-10T04:22:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T04:22:12","slug":"dead-juvenile-whale-washed-up-on-victor-harbor-beach-to-be-tested-for-bird-flu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/620003\/","title":{"rendered":"Dead juvenile whale washed up on Victor Harbor beach to be tested for bird flu"},"content":{"rendered":"

South Australian authorities are investigating whether a dead juvenile whale that washed up on a beach near Victor Harbor on the Fleurieu Peninsula could have bird flu.<\/p>\n

Warning: Readers are advised this article includes images of a dead animal.<\/p>\n

Primary Industries and Regions SA (PIRSA) said a call was made to their hotline this morning, and rangers from the Department for Environment and Water were responding.<\/p>\n

A PIRSA spokesperson said the carcass would be tested for H5 bird flu, but a result would not be known for at least a day.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Dead whales are not common in the area. (Supplied: Anthony Rowland)<\/p>\n

Malakye Muirhead, who found the whale on Dump Beach this morning, told 891 ABC Adelaide he notified authorities of the incident.<\/p>\n

“I notified PIRSA \u2026 they said they’d be sending someone down,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I think it could be [bird flu] but I’m not too sure. It could be related.”<\/p>\n

Authorities moved onlookers off the beach after cordoning off the carcass, as a precaution in case the incident is related to bird flu.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Bird flu is one possible cause of death. (Supplied: Anthony Rowland)<\/p>\n

Dead whales an uncommon sight<\/p>\n

The Fleurieu Marine Education Centre’s Ian Milne said he went to Dump Beach this morning after hearing of the discovery.<\/p>\n

While no formal identification of the species had been made, he believed it could be a minke whale.<\/p>\n

“They’re uncommon around here but not unknown,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It’s a juvenile, about 3.5 metres long, probably weighing about 180 kilograms.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Ian Milne visited the site of the baby whale carcass. (ABC South East SA: Caroline Horn)<\/p>\n

“I’ve lived in the area for 50 years, and dead whales are uncommon.<\/p>\n

“There’s been some notable events in the past but this is uncommon.”<\/p>\n

Mr Milne said he could not see any signs of injury on the carcass, and while bird flu was a possibility, there were plenty of other potential causes of death.<\/p>\n

“It’s a possibility but there are other possibilities too,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It’s a juvenile, and we’ve had some rough weather, so it may have got separated from its pod or mother and perished through lack of contact.”<\/p>\n

Communities built on the sea<\/p>\n

As someone passionate about whales, Mr Milne said seeing the carcass was “disappointing”.<\/p>\n

“But it happens, and it generates a fair bit of interest when these events do happen, and especially at the moment,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Ian Milne says the whale is likely a juvenile minke. (Supplied: Anthony Rowland)<\/p>\n

“There has been a crowd around, a number of people walk the beach with their dogs.<\/p>\n

“[Authorities are being safe] and setting up with police and council workers.”<\/p>\n

Victor Harbor and the Fleurieu Peninsula are home to many animals, including migratory and resident bird and mammals, Mr Milne said.<\/p>\n

“We have penguins on Granite Island, we have dolphins in the bay, we’ve had whales here in whale season.<\/p>\n

“Four whales were resident off Goolwa for a number of weeks.”\"A<\/p>\n

The Fleurieu Peninsula, which includes Victor Harbor, Encounter Bay and Port Elliot, is home to many marine animals and birds. (ABC News: Bec Whetham)<\/p>\n

Mr Milne said the beaches and ocean were a major drawcard for both residents and visitors.<\/p>\n

“We have fishers, surfers, snorkellers, divers,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We have a number of marine environments here, it really is a feature of the place with the islands, the reef, the sandy surf beaches.<\/p>\n

“The coast is always calling, here.”More news from regional SA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"South Australian authorities are investigating whether a dead juvenile whale that washed up on a beach near Victor…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":620004,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[29828,25351,21252,263167,263168,263170,263172,61,60,263171,82,263169,1976,263],"class_list":["post-620003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-avian-influenza","tag-bird-flu","tag-carcass","tag-dead-whale","tag-dump-beach","tag-fleurieu-peninsula","tag-ian-milne","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-minke-whale","tag-science","tag-victor-harbor","tag-whale","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=620003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620003\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/620004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=620003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=620003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=620003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}