The humpback whale that died after becoming stranded in shallow water off Port Kennedy will be removed from the beach by the end of the day.
The animal became stuck on a sandbank just metres from the shore in the Shoalwater Islands Marine Park Wednesday, prompting authorities to shut the beach.
DBCA confirmed on Thursday morning that the 10-metre whale “passed away overnight” after authorities administered sedatives.
“Perth Zoo veterinarians will attend the site this morning to collect biological samples and data from the carcass to learn more about the whale’s condition,” a spokesperson said.
“The team’s priority today is to safely remove the carcass from the beach for disposal offsite.”
A smoking ceremony was conducted Thursday with Noongar Elder Trevor Walley and Senior Cultural Elder from Esperance Gail Yorkshire-Selby to facilitate the whale’s next spiritual journey.
The whale is expected to be removed from the beach by the end of Thursday.
“It would weigh in excess of 10 tonne so we will need large machinery like excavators and front-end loaders, and our staff involved in that will be using cargo nets and straps, it will be quite a logistical challenge,” DBCA incident controller Benson Todd said.
He added it was unknown why the whale swam so close to shore but testing from Perth Zoo vets would determine if it was unwell.
The public is reminded to stay away from the area as an active shark alert remains in place.
Port Kennedy Beach remains closed to the public until further notice by the City of Rockingham.
Mr Todd said marine experts were deployed to assess the condition of the juvenile on Wednesday and determined the “prognosis of the whale wasn’t good”.
“They’re just not designed to be out of the water an din very compromised positions so we made the difficult decision to provide some sedatives late yesterday afternoon,” Mr Todd said.
Vets throughout Thursday were gathering test material from the animal to learn from the tragedy.
Get the latest news from thewest.com.au in your inbox.
Sign up for our emails