Wildlife authorities have euthanased a fin whale which washed up on a beach around 60 kilometres north of Coffs Harbour in New South Wales.
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00:00 Residents of Minnewater today expected a lot of things with the advent of the Christmas
00:06 holiday season just around the corner.
00:08 What they didn't expect was a whale to become beached on one of the most popular beaches
00:13 here on the coast.
00:15 Authorities heard reports of a whale had become stuck here around 6pm yesterday.
00:21 This morning, first responders have been down at the beach trying to dig channels and make
00:26 the whale comfortable while it's here, but sadly just minutes ago we discovered that
00:33 the whale's condition had deteriorated in the hours it had been stuck on the beach and
00:37 the decision was made to euthanise it.
00:40 The whale has since been euthanised.
00:42 Vets also discovered in a quick examination a number of injuries on the whale including
00:47 shark bites.
00:48 Tigger Cross, who runs the Dolphin Conservation Park in Coffs Harbour, she said that although
00:54 these injuries are concerning, it's not necessarily the cause behind how the whale became beached.
01:00 When these types of animals wash up it normally means that they're already unwell so we were
01:04 already prepared that the outcome may not be favourable, but it's about the welfare
01:08 of the animal.
01:09 We don't want it to suffer any longer than it has and we're already connected to the
01:12 culture with the local Indigenous community to passively say goodbye which is really important.
01:18 Orca volunteers have been down here today as well responding to the whale.
01:22 They said that the communities really come together today to make sure the whale was
01:27 comfortable as well as respectful in its passing.
01:30 A number of people have also come here respectfully to mark the occasion too.
01:35 We know as well First Nations traditional owners will bury the whale on country.
01:41 It's such a shocking start to the school holidays but one that has really brought together a
01:45 number of marine rescue providers on the coast here today.
01:48 National Parks spoke to the members of the public here and advised them of what was about
01:56 to occur and made suggestions that it's very emotional so that if anybody didn't want to
02:06 be here to witness that then they should leave.
02:09 Inspections by National Parks and other marine veterinarians believe the whale to be a fin
02:15 whale, it's the second largest whale of its kind in the world.
02:19 It's extremely rare apparently for this type of whale to become beached.
02:24 We do know that it's around about a 10 month old teenager.
02:27 We don't know the sex yet due to the position of the whale that it's lying in, that it became
02:31 beached in but due to the fact that it has been euthanised now a post-mortem will take
02:37 place and we will be a little bit closer in understanding the factors that might have
02:40 caused it to become beached in the near future.
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