When a whale washed up on one of the island’s ocean beaches local children took advantage of the opportunity o get a closer look. Circa 1950's
The carcass of this 13 metre humpback whale proved to be a huge problem for the residents at Surf Beach when it died on the beach there in the 1970’s, with the ensuing stench overwhelming. How to get rid of it posed an enormous problem, with the beach inaccessible to machinery for burial. The innovative of Shire of Phillip Island workers finally managed to solve the problem.
About fifty years ago, in the 1970’s, a very large humpback whale was washed ashore at Surf Beach.
It measured over 13 metres in length, and its estimated weight was 40 tonne.
It was alive when it was beached on a high tide, but there was nothing anyone could do for the stricken mammal.
After it had died, its disposal became a problem.
The Phillip Island Shire had to work out what to do with the carcass, as the stench was unbearable for the residents who lived nearby in the Surf Beach Estate.
The Shire’s Superintendent of Works Artie Murdoch recalled the dilemma faced in an interview with the Advertiser in 2018.
“We could not dig a hole and bury it, because access to the beach with machinery was impossible, and the beach was extremely rocky.
“We could not burn it, because it was simply too big.”
“So we decided it would have to be hauled up the cliff and buried.
“We tried George Kent’s bulldozer, and cabling it up the cliff, but that was unsuccessful.
“We tried the shire grader and dozer working together.
“But nothing would move it.
“So the only option was to dismantle it, and crane the pieces up the cliff for burial.
“A huge hole was dug at the top of the cliff, between Dunvegan and Highview Streets.
“Then we cut it up in half tonne sections.”
“The whale was dissected with a chainsaw, after fern hooks proved to be unsuccessful.”
“The University of Melbourne had been contacted when the whale was first spotted, and became involved in the burial.
“They directed that the whale pieces be interred in the right order, should it be decided in the future that there was a need to examine it.
“So then we had the job of putting the jigsaw back together at the top of the cliff, in 80 pieces,” recalled Artie, who was in charge of the work at the time.
Smelly job
It was a very smelly and unpleasant job for the shire workers.
And a difficult one with cables breaking to begin with.
“We had to throw away our clothing at the end of it,” Artie said.
“The Shire paid everyone involved fifteen shillings a day extra for the work that they had done.
“The burial overall took about five days.”
Circa 1950’s
Even earlier, in the 1950’s, when a whale washed up on one of the island’s ocean beaches, local children took advantage of the chance to take a closer look.
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