A whale carcass has washed ashore at Denison Beach near Bicheno, attracting crowds of onlookers.
The decomposing sperm whale was first spotted floating off the coast on Tuesday night before washing up on the southern end of Denison Beach.
Local resident Lee Wilson said it initially looked like “an overturned boat and a big pink round floating thing” before he realised what it was.
“It had a lot of birds eating it, and also other creatures chewing or trying to chew it from underneath,” Wilson told Pulse.
“There were some sharks about.”
The carcass has been attracting attention from locals and visitors, with many people travelling to the beach to see it.
Wilson said the whale is now positioned on the sand and has created a strong smell.
Wilson contacted police about the situation, expressing concerns about the impact on local tourism.
“We’re a tourist place, we’ve got penguin tours down the road, we need to probably do something about it before there is an issue,” he said.
“We have a lot of swimmers and things like that.”
Police issued an alert to warn locals about sharks in the area, saying “the whale appears to be part eaten by sharks … and the whale is being knocked about.”
“The whale appears to be full of gas and drifting towards Diamond Island,” a Tasmania Police spokesperson.
