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Daniel Munoz / Reuters
Police and wildlife rangers stand next to a dead humpback whale lying in a rock pool at Newport beach in Sydney, Australia on August 1, 2012.
Torsten Blackwood / AFP - Getty Images
The 32-foot adult humpback, which appears to have been dead for several days, washed up in the ocean baths overnight as rough seas lashed parts of Australia's east coast.
Rough seas and a high tide washed up a dead humpback whale into a seaside swimming pool in Australia. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.
Reuters reports — A dead 32-foot whale has washed up into an Australian seaside swimming pool.
Rough seas and a high tide washed the 20 to 30 tonne humpback whale over a chain safety fence late on Tuesday and into a public salt water swimming pool at Sydney's Newport beach.
National Parks authorities said they hope the whale carcass might float out of the pool area on the next high tide. Otherwise, workers might have to bring in a crane to remove the whale and then carve up the carcass.
One swimmer told Australian radio he saw the whale when he turned up for his regular morning dip.
"I swim every day and I'm not sharing my lane with that," he said.
Previously on PhotoBlog:
- Fishermen reel in shark the size of a school bus
- Pakistani man fights police over 40-foot shark
- Crowd pay their respects to beached whale in British Columbia
- Whale of a problem in Rio
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Daniel Munoz / Reuters
Police officers talk to wildlife rangers near the whale carcass at Newport beach.
Paul Miller / EPA
Rangers estimate the whale to weigh between 20 and 30 tonnes.
Leave a Comment:
What kind of pool is this? Is it filled naturally every morning with the tide? I've never seen this before--intriguing (and so sad about the whale--magnificent creature).
I should think this isn't the first time a creature has floated into this seaside pool. What if something alive got in there somehow during a storm? I wouldn't want to be swimming with a LIVE shark even more than a dead whale! yikes!
What a bigot.
"I wouldn't want to be swimming with a LIVE shark even more than a dead whale! yikes!"
But think about how quickly your lap time would improve!
that had to stink ,its now a "cesspool" with that rotting fatty/oily putrid carcussbloating & floating
The body was left there by rival whale cartels as a warning, "don't fish in our waters."
That's exactly what I was thinking, Brenda. The whale's death, while sad, is hardly newsworthy, since many others die in deeper waters where we don't see their bodies. What I found interesting is the pool. I had never seen one, but it is a simple yet brilliant idea. Let the high tides clean your pool and refresh the water, and at low tides you can swim or wade in the "ocean" without the danger (think of children/elderly/disabled) of waves, rip currents, etc. There are many areas that have naturally occurring tidal pools, but this is the first time I have seen an artificial one. The natural ones are usually pretty small, and so not much use for swimming. Good on ya, mates, leave it to the Aussies to be ahead of the game on anything having to do with the outdoors and especially watersports.
As to the comments about sharks, I think the fence is probably designed to be higher than a normal high tide, and therefore keep any large animals or debris out of the pool. Anything small enough to fit through is not going to eat a person (though they do have several species of very small and very poisonous jellyfish there). If something was big enough to break the fence like the whale did, it would be big enough that any potential bathers/meals would notice it. It's not like you're going to miss a 20-foot great white in a swimming pool.
OK, Ma, you fry up this one and I'll go catch some more for supper.....
How did the whale die? I don't believe it was the storm... I've never heard of a whale washing up on shore because of a storm.
Believe it or not even whales die of natural causes. The only reason this is different is because it ended up in the ocean filled pool.
I had the same question, was it dead and washed into the pool, or did it get trapped and die? I don't think they can breath to well if they aren't floating. An autopsy is in order.
Wje37fcsm,
An autopspy? Please be joking. The article said the whale appears to have been dead for days, which means the storms washed the carcass ashore and into the pool. It likely died of natural causes....even if the storm could wash a live whale into the pool to get stuck, it is not the fault of the pool. Any whale that large close to shore would likely get beached if the pool weren't there. It happens, it's no ones fault, no autopsy needed, relax.
I hate to see this happen. But I guess it could reoccur with the history of high sea surges. I hope the officials can figure out a way to humanely prevent it from happening. Perhaps a higher fence?
Maggie,
The whale was most probably dead or seriously injured before it washed into the pool. Take a good look at the fence. A higher fence would do nothing but fold over from a 30 ton whale just as this one did.
BrendaM (#1)
Yes, the pool is refreshed after every tied. In fact, the latest is people in-shore actually converting their fresh water pools to salt water. Not exactly the same as the sea but a special salt water pool that takes much less maintenance to take care of and it's better for your eyes and skin.
Have a nice day....
Frank Lloyd Wright's "Fallingwater" had a natural pool on site, it was spring-fed, I think, but the water was not chlorinated, and there was no blue pool liner, so the water was a natural tan color, and the leaves were left at the bottom of the pool, just like what occurs to a natural lake. It looked like the cleanest, clearest artificial lake. If we didn't already live on a lake, I'd want a natural pool like that one.
essie222: we have a spring fed pond. It brings water from the ground.. at temperatures around 60 degrees. Way too cold to swim in when the water is 40 degrees colder than your body temp. ;)
Whale of a story.
Apparantly the whale tried to dive in the shallow end...............tragic.
"sludgie the whale"
I can see calling animal control and telling them there's a whale in my pool. The cops would be at my door because I am annoying animal control with silly stories-and then they see the dead whale in my pool.
Try to toss that one on the barbie' you crazy aussies.
Thank you whale, RIP. We very much enjoyed your presence on the planet.
I believe I understand your final gesture. You bring us a sincere POM.
I seriously doubt that the dead whale is reading your epitaph, davidjskjonsby. o.0
Wow. Incredibly gay.
DEAR davidjskjonsby... blowhole me.
Oh no, how's sad for humpback dead. We loved humpback that we went to the fishing while the humpback jumped over the ocean so beautiful.
hmmm... are you using an english translation program?
Difficult is reading post whale good thing grammar key words read.
Between the sunami's and floating trash traveling around the world, it doesnt surprise me this poor whale died and washed into this pool. We are now seeing trash from China wash up on the Pacific west coast. Lets hope its not more dead animals.
This just in ,,, The White House blames the Bush Administration for this ...! video at 10......
No but we can blame him for your stupidity.
NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND!!!
No Foxnews says it was a socialist plot hatched by Obama
awh, poor thing......
bring in a few cases of explosives and blow "sludgie the whale" to bits,feed the birds &sharks
Why wasn't there a lifeguard on duty? The water was probably too wet. Do they have a permit for that ocean? Sounds like negligence, sue somebody,..sue everybody.
Where's the Steve Irwin and Paul Watson when you need them?
This just in it wasn't a whale in the pool....................it was Paul Watson without a shirt on.
Steve Irwin is dead! Jet, couple years now, where were you when he got struck in the heart by the manta ray?
RIP whale, sorry you had to die. Such a beautiful creature.
Patricia the "Steve Irwin" is a boat named in his honor that Paul Watson uses to save whales.
I know that all living things die and the whale maybe died of "more natural" causes, but this looks sad and nasty.
i feel bad for the pool boy
Finally, a post that makes sense!
Pool Boy: "I think I'm going to need a bigger trash bag"
I hope he gets a raise after that
Looking at the condition of the rest of the pool- I'de suspect the pool boy has been gone for quite some time.
you can almost smell the carcass from here...wait.....oh...okay, though i was going to hurl...
I am sure that poor defenseless whale died because of man: global warming, Japanese whalers, gas spills, overpopulation, toxic waste spills, garbage islands in the ocean...we should make sure it gets a decent burial with many mourners and that legislation is passed to outlaw pools such as this one and the owners of this pool are fined into poverty never again to allow such a terrible horrendous tragic thing to happen to any other sea creature EVER EVER AGAIN!!!!
People should give up cars, electricity and go back into living in caves because of all the damage we have done to the earth. We should tread lightly in making any carbon footprint, never cut down another tree or harm another animal, even in self-defense and then perhaps terrible things like how this poor whale died will never EVER EVER HAPPEN AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(P.S. is there a smiley for sarcasm?)
So where are the japanese now. They can have this whale and eat on it for a week. Wrap it up and ship it over to japan. ONe less they would have to kill
WHY doesn't the internet post more REAL news, like this?
I really wish there was much, much, MUCH, MORE, of this type of news.
I hope the tide has washed the carcass back out, to sea, by the time others read my entry, here.
Something interesting to read, for the first time, in MONTHS!!!!
How sad people have become so callous.
Wow, what a close up picture of an astounding creature. Truely amazing.
I find the second picture the most disturbing of all... what sir, do you plan on doing with those bolt cutters and little jars?!
...ewe...
If you look the bolt cutters are for the chain, and the 'jars' are the pole caps. He's probably the lucky guy that gets to fix the pool.