Dead three metre whale washes up on West Beach between Ocean Ave and Surf Ave

Western suburbs beachgoers have flocked around the bizarre sight as authorities work to remove the carcass. See the pictures and video.

A three metre dead whale, believed to be a pygmy sperm whale, has washed up on a popular western suburbs beach.

Early morning beachgoers and walkers stopped to take photos of the carcass that had washed up between Ocean Ave and Surf Ave, West Beach on Saturday morning.

Two members from the National Parks and Wildlife Services were guarding the mammal, as they waited for professionals to arrive and take the whale away from the beach.

A dead pygmy sperm whale washed up at West Beach. Picture: Agnes Gichuhi

National Parks and Wildlife Services guarded the carcass. Picture: Agnes Gichuhi

A small portion of the beach remained closed off to the public as crews worked for about 20 minutes to remove it.

By 11.30am, the whale had been shovelled out of the sand, placed in a sturdy plastic cover and lifted onto a vehicle.

Owner of Temptation Sailing William Pyke, 27, Glenelg, believes he spotted the whale “through binoculars” during a Wild Dolphin Tour on Friday.

“We actually thought it was a seal, then when we approached the animal, it had a dorsal fin.

“We got some clear photos of the whale, and it turned out to be one of two species, either a Dwarf or a Pygmy sperm whale but there’s been a bit of debate on it,” Mr Pyke told The Advertiser.

“We got the call that it washed up on shore and that’s how we could cross ID [identify] it there. 

Mr Pyke said he was “saddened” to hear that the whale had washed up on shore the following morning.

“Yesterday when we saw it, it was behaving pretty normally. There’s not much known about them, but it was diving normally, and then it would be sitting on the surface resting, swimming like normal,” he said.

“So it is pretty sad. Generally they’re a deep water species so maybe its echolocation was off and it got a bit distressed.”

In March last year, beachgoers were brought to tears after a beached whale was spotted at Glenelg.

However, the animal was part of an Adelaide Festival installation designed to deliver a powerful statement about the environment and climate change.

Originally published as Dead three metre whale washes up on West Beach between Ocean Ave and Surf Ave