Large sperm whale buried near where it stranded

In short:

A dead whale that washed ashore has been buried at Turners Beach in Tasmania's north-west.

The Parks and Wildlife Service says the decision to bury the carcass was made after consultation with relevant landholders and authorities.

What's next?

Some locals are worried about environmental contamination and the carcass attracting sharks.

Tasmania's Parks and Wildlife Service has buried a sperm whale that became stranded and died at Turners Beach in the state's north-west this week.

The 10-metre creature became stuck in shallow water on Wednesday night.

Parks and Wildlife staff spent much of Thursday trying to save it, but it died later that day.

They buried the whale yesterday in vegetation at the western end of the beach with some residents watching the operation, which included the taking of samples for further research.

Turners Beach resident Greg Tompos said he and some other residents were concerned about the burial's proximity to a popular swimming spot attracting sharks.

"It's in an area that's only a couple of hundred metres away from Camp Clayton, which is a camp used by a number of children's groups and camps throughout the year, they go swimming in that area," he said.

"Personally, my children like to swim in the area directly out front from where the whale is currently being buried."

Parks and Wildlife Service says site most suitable

A spokesperson for the Parks and Wildlife Service (PWS) said decisions about carcass disposal were made after careful planning and liaison with relevant landholders and authorities, including councils and the Environment Protection Authority.

"The chosen site was determined to be more suitable for environmental and public amenity reasons than burying the whale on the beach or leaving it to decompose,"

they said.

PWS will monitor the burial site for any emerging issues and respond where required.

Another resident, Kate Wylie, who is also standing for re-election as a Central Coast councillor, said there had been distress among some community members and she had put forward their concerns to authorities.

"In relation to leeching attracting sharks, toxins in the water, because it can take a very long time for a whale that size to decompose," she said. 

Ms Wylie said residents had not been given much information from authorities as to how and why the burial decision had been reached.

"We have to have trust in the experts that are handling the body but I can understand why there are concerns about how and why," she said.

"There was the option which was considered which was to take the whale carcass out to sea, which has been done before, but from what I can understand and obviously I'm not an expert on the matter, but often the carcasses will wash back in and wash in somewhere else and it's just a problem for somebody else."

Ms Wylie said it was important that community members, the local council and authorities learnt from the situation so improvements could be made for any future whale strandings in the area.