The rotten corpse of a whale washed up on a regional shire’s beach is drawing the attention of more than just sightseers, with three sharks spotted in nearby waters.
On October 21, the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development issued a shark advice for Preston Beach due to the presence of a dead whale on the beach.
Despite the warning, Shire of Waroona president Mike Walmsley said the shire would not be removing the carcass, instead putting up signage to deter swimmers.
The decision to leave the rotting animal was based on cost — Cr Walmsley said it would cost thousands of dollars to remove the carcass.
However in the past week, DPIRD’s SharkSmart data has revealed three sharks — all more than 3m long — have been tagged and released just 50m from shore.