SHOCKED beach users were greeted with the carcass of a giant dead whale on Fairhaven beach last week.<\/p>\n
The adult sperm whale carcass was spotted off shore on Monday afternoon and had washed ashore by Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n
VicEmergency issued a warning advising people not to swim in the area due the carcass which can attract sharks closer to the shore more than normal.<\/p>\n
An incident management team was established to remove the 18-metre carcass from the beach, which involved dissecting the carcasss on the beach and moving it to the Anglesea tip.<\/p>\n
The clean up was finished by Wednesday morning. Incident Controller Barry James was pleased with the effort.<\/p>\n
“The scale of this operation required the involvement of numerous stakeholders and we thank them and the community for their cooperation and support over the last three days,” he said.<\/p>\n
The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DEWLP) worked closely with Traditional Land Owners to respect the cultural significance of a whale coming ashore on Country. Small pieces of the whale were buried at the beach to respect where its journey ended.<\/p>\n
Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation CEO Markus Clarke said it was great to see customs and beliefs of Traditional Land Owners honoured.<\/p>\n
“The Incident Management Team established by DEWLP showed Traditional Owners considerable respect, allowing us to carry out our ancient ceremonial practices,” he said.<\/p>\n
“Yesterday’s activities on Country were a testament to the respectful and collaborative processes which have been established to benefit all parties.”
\nEastern Maar citizen Ebony Hickey attended the ceremony for the whale.<\/p>\n
“Being able to practice our traditional beliefs alongside the response crew and the onlookers proved to be a powerful send off for this splendiferous deep ocean creature,” she said.<\/p>\n
“Often our cultural values are overlooked in emergency responses, yesterday on Gadubanud Country was proof that we can have a respectful, mutual and genuine relationship that is beneficial to all involved.”<\/p>\n
Due to the state and size of the carcass what caused the death of the whale is unknown.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SHOCKED beach users were greeted with the carcass of a giant dead whale on Fairhaven beach last week. The adult sperm whale carcass was spotted off shore on Monday afternoon and had washed ashore by Tuesday morning. VicEmergency issued a warning advising people not to swim in the area due the carcass which can attract […]<\/p>\n