Dead humpback at Barragoot Bay near Bermagui, New South Wales

STAN GORTON

26 Oct, 2011 10:28 AM

A FULLY grown male humpback whale in a state of decay has washed on a beach south of Bermagui.

JOURNEY OVER: Bermagui’s Scott Bradley took the kids and dog down to Barragoot Bay to check out the dead whale and took this photo.

National Parks and Wildlife Service ranger Kathryn Brown said the dead whale was reported to the service by resident in the Cuttagee area early on Monday.

The whale on Monday evening was in the surf zone at the south end of Barragoot Beach about six kilometres south of Bermagui.

“It’s in the wash zone about 15 metres offshore at his stage and we will continue to monitor it,” Ms Brown said.

She said it was an adult male that was fairly bloated as the internal organs had begun to decay.

Rangers had been unable to measure it because its location in the wash zone and it was hard to say how long it has been dead, or what had caused its death.

Narooma Charters’ Darryl Stuart had reported seeing a badly injured humpback whale last week sporting damage from a likely ship strike, but it was not known if this was that whale.

NPWS earlier this month put out a statement saying the recovering population of humpback whales meant strandings and dead whales washing up was likely to be a more common occurrence.

This adult whale looked to be 16 metres long and could weigh in excess of 20 tonnes.

Barragoot is not a recognised patrolled surf beach but people should be aware that it’s there and avoid doing any water sports in the area and not get too close to it, Mr Brown said.

Dead whales were known to attract sharks in large numbers, while there was also the danger of it rolling around in the surf.

Rangers will continue to monitor this carcass under close supervision and let nature take its course.

naroomanewsonline.com.au

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