Heavy machinery has moved on to a northern Sydney beach to help remove the carcass of a humpback whale that was washed out of a nearby ocean pool overnight.
The carcass of the young 10-metre male humpback was found lodged in the ocean pool at Newport beach early yesterday and was washed out by the high tide later in the day.
An excavator arrived at the beach on Thursday morning, while another was expected to join it to help with the carcass's removal to a burial site nearby.
The whale washed up in the middle of Newport beach, near pipelines.
Geoff Ross of the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) says the carcass will be carved up with chainsaws before its removal.
"We're getting two 14-tonne excavators in to assist in moving the carcass to a safer location up the beach," Mr Ross told AAP.
He said it would then be taken to a designated burial site nearby.
Mr Ross said six NPWS chainsaw operators will begin cutting up the dead mammal on Thursday afternoon.
The area where it lies has been sectioned off as a crowd of more than 100 people look on.
Mr Ross said it was okay for the community to observe the NPWS operation but warned they should stay a safe distance away.
Local resident Fergus Woolveridge said the whale was creating a "wall of smell like an entire fish shop gone off".
National Parks and Wildlife have said the whale most likely died three to five days ago, probably of natural causes such as a respiratory tract infection.
The beach remains closed to swimmers and the council has warned of a possible increase in shark activity.
