Massive whale carcass leaves council with $180k bill, budget headache

The cost of removing a massive humpback whale that washed up on a Perth beach cost ratepayers almost $180,000, with the local council footing the bill pleading for the state government to chip in.

The Town of Cambridge was tasked with removing the 31-tonne humpback whale from City Beach on September 27.

Initial estimates on its removal ranged from $40,000 to $100,000.

The 13-metre long carcass was transported from the popular beach using a 72-tonne crane to Red Hill landfill in the city's north-east on October 1.

While a full breakdown of the $180,000 bill is not yet available, Cambridge Mayor Gary Mack said coordinating the carcass's 44-kilometre journey to the waste management facility involved several costly moving parts.

"Hiring specialist cranes and their operators was an additional expense that we didn't fully anticipate," he said.

"We had to engage a large truck that was sealed, so whale exudate didn't go on the freeway as it was driving.

"All these things had costs and individually they may not seem a lot, but when you put them all together, it adds to the expense."

Costly carcasses a statewide expense

Historically, the cost of carcass removal in Western Australia has varied widely.

The City of Karratha spent as little as $10,000 to remove a 14-metre humpback in 2009, while $188,000 was spent by the City of Stirling to remove a larger 17-metre whale from Scarborough Beach in 2014.

Mayor Mack said he suspected the City Beach clean-up effort presented more logistical challenges than a carcass disposal in regional WA.

"We had thousands of people turn up to view it because there was a huge curiosity factor," he said.

"But we had to make sure that those people were kept safe from the actual heavy earth moving equipment operations.

"I would expect that the cost of carcass removal in country areas would be less than the in the city areas."

A motion for the town to call on the state government to establish a state-funded whale carcass response mechanism, which would see local governments reimbursed for the cost of removal, has been slated for October 27.

Mayor Mack said if the state didn't foot some of the bill, the town would likely pull funding from infrastructure projects already approved in this year's budget.

"We can't increase the rates because the rates have already been sent out and people have paid their rates," he said.

"It really is a matter of looking to recover that cost from other programs and other services."