Humpback whale buried in NSW dunes after stranding on Seven Mile beach | Whales

A 30-tonne humpback whale has been buried in the dunes behind where it beached and died on Seven Mile beach at Lennox Head on the New South Wales north coast.

The adult whale became stranded early on Saturday morning and, despite attempts by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service to save it, died about 7pm.

The mayor of Ballina Shire council, Sharon Cadwallader, said the whale was buried on Sunday in the dunes behind the beach. There was a ceremony at the request of the Jali local Aboriginal land council.

“Everything has to be according to government guidelines. Jali does have to be consulted and that was the preference – to have a burial rather than it be disposed of in the waste facility,” Cadwallader said.

In 2017, a whale buried at Port Macquarie beach was subsequently dug up and removed when locals raised concerns it could attract sharks.

A research project in 2019 found those fears were unfounded. Cadwallader said there were still no state government guidelines on disposing of whale carcasses – but the mayor said if done correctly, a whale burial should not attract sharks to the area.

Cadwallader said the whale had to be buried above the water table and the high tide mark. “The most important thing is no water passes through the burial site,” she said.

The OzGrom 2023 junior surfing competition is scheduled for Lennox Head later this week and the mayor said extra safety precautions would be put in place.

“It attracts young surfers from all around Australia. Staff are working with the organisers to see if there are any further safety measures that need to be put in place. But the event will be going ahead, which is wonderful.”

Skippy Love, from the Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia, told Guardian Australia on Saturday it was not clear how the whale ended up stranded on the beach.

“Being that it’s in good body condition, and there’s no obvious injury like a boat strike or anything like that, it’s hard to determine what has happened,” she said.

“Humpbacks tend to strand on their own and it normally indicates there is some kind of a problem that has occurred to make that happen.”