Cockburn Sound waters run red with blood as giant sperm whale dragged onto land

The waters of Cockburn Sound ran red with blood on Wednesday afternoon as the 40-tonne carcass of a massive sperm whale was dragged onto land.

It took two boats to tow the whale’s remains from the northern end of Rockingham beach through shallow waters to an industrial jetty in Henderson.

With a heavy-duty rope tied to its tail, blood spilled from the now-deceased whale as an industrial excavator pulled it from the water on Wednesday.

The skeleton of the whale, which came incredibly close to swimmers at Port beach over the weekend before dying in the shallows off Rockingham, will eventually be on public display at the WA Museum.

A crane will be needed to hoist the mammal onto a flatbed truck to take it to either the City of Rockingham’s Millar Road Landfill and Recycling Facility or the City of Cockburn’s Henderson Waste Recovery Park.

Marine scientists will be able to obtain samples and data before the carcass is buried in accordance with marine mammal disposal protocols, the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions said, and it could be exhumed in coming years for future research.

DBCA vessels towed the 18m-long specimen from the water at Rockingham Wednesday morning as sharks circled about 200m offshore — including a 2.5m tiger shark spotted about 7.40am — with the beach remaining closed to swimmers.

DBCA incident controller Mark Cugley said the carcass had been tethered with anchor moorings overnight before it was towed.

“This morning’s efforts to move the whale from Rockingham Beach further north about 13km up to the Henderson marine facility has begun well,” he said.

“The operation has gone well and we look forward to ... getting this whale safely and securely out of the water.”

According to incident controllers at the beach, the skeleton will be made available for learning and display at the WA Museum in about five years.

“As a sperm whale of this size is a rare event in coming ashore, there is a unique opportunity for learning and considerable national and international interest,” incident controllers wrote on a message board at the beach.

The whale stunned swimmers at Port beach on Saturday when it surfaced just metres from shore, sparking concern from authorities about the health of the fully-grown male whale.

By Monday morning the whale was discovered beached about 70m from the beach at Rockingham, with obvious conditions of poor health and sunburn.

It’s understood the whale was towards the end of its lifespan, which is typically between 60 and 70 years.

Authorities continued to monitor and tend to the sick whale, but just 24 hours later it was confirmed the animal had died of natural causes.