{"id":407370,"date":"2026-05-01T21:49:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T21:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/407370\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T21:49:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T21:49:12","slug":"whale-carcass-towed-along-nsw-coast-as-shark-activity-warning-issued","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/407370\/","title":{"rendered":"Whale carcass towed along NSW coast as shark activity warning issued"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A 20-tonne sperm whale carcass has been towed along the NSW South Coast, sparking an urgent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.9news.com.au\/sharks\" target=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"shark warning\">shark warning<\/a> for local swimmers and surfers.<\/p>\n<p>Because there is no vehicle access to the remote beach, authorities were forced to wait for ideal conditions to remove the mammal by sea.<\/p>\n<p>Watch the video above.\ufeff<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/https:\/\/prod.static9.net.au\/fs\/9bc04ed3-b47d-4ed3-a209-6a0f22071ae9.png\"   alt=\"\"\/>Dozens of onlookers gathered as the towing operation unfolded. (Illawarra and surrounds marine life sightings)<\/p>\n<p>A removal operation finally began at dawn, with tugboats hauling the whale more than 20 kilometres south before it was hoisted from the water at Bellambi Beach this afternoon.<\/p>\n<p>It was then taken to the Whytes Gully waste facility in Wollongong.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/https:\/\/prod.static9.net.au\/fs\/ddc80e56-2de5-46cd-897a-df34ae19e8fe.png\"   alt=\"\"\/>Sperm whales are the largest toothed predators in the world. (Illawarra and surrounds marine life sightings)<\/p>\n<p>Dozens of onlookers gathered as the towing operation unfolded, with many unable to stay long due to the overpowering smell.<\/p>\n<p>Albion Park man Darren Malone, 47, estimated that at least 60 people had turned out, but he was left &#8220;gagging&#8221; as the stench from the decomposing carcass intensified.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/https:\/\/prod.static9.net.au\/fs\/e7adfa81-ca0f-4f7c-bcec-dea1de00a71e.png\"   alt=\"\"\/>Beachgoers have already been forced to evacuate the water following this morning&#8217;s removal. (Illawarra and surrounds marine life sightings)<\/p>\n<p>NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) Area Manager Brendon Neilly said the lack of access and the scale of the task made it an enormous undertaking.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The location, size and distances made it one of the most challenging operations of its kind,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/https:\/\/vms-network-images-prod.s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com\/2026\/04\/768537\/pickerimage.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Attention has now turned to the coastline between Stanwell Park and Bellambi Point, where Surf Life Saving Illawarra says the carcass has already attracted several sharks.<\/p>\n<p>Seven sharks were spotted between Woonona and East Corrimal, prompting the duty officer to evacuate people from the water.<\/p>\n<p>A Surf Life Saving Illawarra spokesperson said a UAV drone has been deployed for surveillance, and beach signage has been erected advising the public to remain out of the water until at least Monday.<\/p>\n<p>NEVER MISS A STORY: Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A 20-tonne sperm whale carcass has been towed along the NSW South Coast, sparking an urgent shark warning&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":407371,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[111,139,69,147,406],"class_list":["post-407370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=407370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407370\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/407371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=407370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=407370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=407370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}