Several Perth beaches remain closed after high levels of E. coli were detected following the removal of a 31-tonne whale carcass from City Beach last week. Water samples taken on Friday showed unusual results, prompting the Town of Cambridge to extend beach closures until further tests confirm safe water quality. The whale's presence had attracted sharks, including a tagged great white shark caught near Floreat Groyne. Retired Fisheries scientist Dr Jim Penn commented that there could be up to 10,000 great whites off Western Australia’s coast and expressed concern over an increasing trend in fatal shark attacks.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-05,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
A 13-metre humpback whale carcass washed up on south City Beach in Perth early Monday morning, attracting several great white sharks, including one measuring over 5 metres, prompting authorities to issue multiple shark warnings and close the beach. The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development warned that the carcass could continue to attract sharks for weeks. Local surf lifesavers spotted the whale around 7:30 AM, and a helicopter reported seeing five-metre and four-metre white sharks circling near Swanbourne, just south of City Beach by late morning. The Town of Cambridge is managing the removal, which began Wednesday afternoon using heavy machinery, an excavator, and a truck at an estimated cost between $60,000 and $100,000, with disposal planned for Perth tips like Tamala Park or Baldivis.
Written for “Whale Carcass Removal City Beach” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 12 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political
question, so it has no leaning score. That is an
answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly
or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it
anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political
position.
No political leaning scored for article 56970 · logged 2026-10-05
“Unusual” sample results have forced several popular Perth beaches to remain closed after a whale carcass washed ashore at City Beach last week.
asserted
carcass → force → Beach
The whale was finally taken to Red Hill tip on Thursday, having washed ashore days earlier, drawing hungry sharks and curious onlookers to the busy metropolitan beach.
asserted
whale → take → beach
On Monday, the Town of Cambridge revealed all beaches in the local government’s boundaries would remain closed for another 24 hours after water samples taken at the end of last week revealed high levels of the bacteria E. coli at City Beach, City Beach North and Floreat Beach.
asserted
samples → reveal → Beach
Officers returned to the beaches for further testing on Monday, before a Town of Cambridge spokesperson said the community was asked to not enter the water at any of the local government’s beaches, and to keep dogs out of the water as well.
“While the Town undertook water sampling as a precautionary measure, we did not expect the water sampling undertaken following removal of the whale carcass to return these unusual results,” the spokesperson said.
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spokesperson → return → results
“Based on advice from the Department of Health, all Town of Cambridge beaches will remain closed to water activities until further testing confirms the water quality is satisfactory.”
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quality → base → activities
E. coli bacteria is found in animals’ guts and is often harmless, however some strains can cause diarrhoea, vomiting and fever in humans.
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strains → find → humans
Symptoms often start between one and 10 days after exposure.
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Symptoms → start → exposure
The tests revealing the E. coli levels were conducted on Friday.
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tests → reveal → Friday
The 31-tonne whale carcass washed ashore on Monday last week, but had been spotted floating in the waters off Perth’s coast in the days prior.
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carcass → wash → days
Its presence drew sharks to the coast, and a 3.7-metre great white was caught and tagged just hours after Fisheries officers deployed drum lines off the Floreat Groyne on Tuesday.
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officers → draw → Tuesday
Heavy machinery was brought in to shift the carcass, which was taken to a tip over fears towing it out to sea could lead to it breaking up, washing back ashore and drawing even more sharks to the area.
uncertain
it → bring → area
The week’s events reignited debate over WA’s shark mitigation strategy, with retired Fisheries scientist Dr Jim Penn estimating there could be as many as 10,000 great white’s off the WA coast.
uncertain
Penn → reignite → coast
Penn said the state’s tagging program was “always a good thing to do”, but it was also expensive, and had already shown the population of sharks on the west coast was separate from those on the east coast.
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population → say → coast
“It’s useful information, and it should be done, [I’m] not suggesting it’s reduced, but a lot of it is needed to be able to get enough DNA samples to do a better estimate [of shark numbers],” he said.
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he → ’ → numbers
Penn said there was an “increasing trend” in fatal shark attacks in WA.
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Penn → say → WA
“This year … the reason I came out of retirement, pretty much, to look at the shark data was the attacks earlier this year, and then one at Sorrento, near where I live,” he said.
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he → come → Sorrento
“And I just find it appalling that that’s still happening.
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that → find → ?
“My first time in front of the TV cameras was when Ken Crew was killed at Cottesloe [in 2000], and I was down there having to say, ‘This is a terrible situation, but tough.
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This → kill → 2000
You know, it’s a protected species, and we can’t even dispatch that shark’.
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we → know → shark
“I think what’s needed is a hard relook at this, and the numbers and the methodology, particularly looking to do it with an unbiased approach.”
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needed → think → approach
The Aporia
