Otago Southland Surf Lifesaving committee chairman Cam Burrow said swimmers and surfers had been avoiding the beach for months, after a juvenile humpback whale washed ashore nearby earlier this year.
The surf washed the carcass down the coast to Purakaunui in September, where it was buried in the sand dunes.
"Because it was buried, it removed that danger of the whale leaching into the ocean and attracting increased marine activity like sharks and other wildlife.
"There was a lot of concern from the local people about the sharks, but now that the whale is gone, Warrington beach is going to be fine to swim in."
The beach would be a great area for safe surfing and swimming again this summer, Mr Burrow said.
"There will be over 250 volunteers running lifesaving patrols at St Clair, St Kilda, Brighton and Warrington between midday and 4pm each day, from this Saturday until late March next year."
Last season, 17 rescues, six assists, six major first aids, eight searches and 1689 preventive actions were made at the beaches, many of which were avoidable, he said.
"Quite a lot of our rescues happen outside patrol hours. We have a volunteer callout team which is on call 24/7, to respond to people getting into trouble outside of the patrol hours or at unpatrolled beaches.
"Our message is, always swim at patrolled beaches while the patrols are there and stay between the flags.
"We’ll let you know where the dangers are."
The other key message was if someone got into trouble on a beach outside patrol hours, just call 111, he said.
