Washed up whale remains have forced multiple Australian beaches to close this month. Over the weekend, Western Australia’s Sorrento Beach closed due to possible shark activity following the appearance of yet another carcass.
As ABC News reports, the most recent carcass was removed within hours of its discovery. However, Sorrento Beach remained closed for fear of sharks attracted by the animal. This is the second whale carcass to wash up near Perth this week, and the third in the last month. On Thursday, a 10-foot, significantly decomposed partial whale carcass washed up at South Cottesloe beach, once again prompting local closures. The first instance was on September 27, when a 40-foot, 72-ton humpback whale carcass washed up on City Beach.
The concerns over shark attacks are compounded by the fact that a man was brutally killed at Sorrento Beach on September 18. As dozens of beachgoers looked on, the swimmer was bitten by a shark, in a scene described by witnesses as “straight out of Jaws.“ As witness Ryan Rowe told The West Australian, “I couldn’t believe there was that much blood [that had] come out of a human body.”
The whale deaths come during what is typically a time of migration for humpbacks. “During this time, there’s a whole range of reasons why some of them end up dying,” University of Western Australia marine biologist Kate Sprogis told ABC after the September 27 remains appeared. She added that, while a necropsy is required to determine the specific cause of death, a lack of obvious signs of trauma on the carcass could mean the animal died from natural causes.
