whale
A dead whale which was found on the beach at South Ballina on Sunday has been buried.

A spokeswoman from National Parks and Wildlife confirmed the 5.2m baby humpback whale had been buried on Monday.

It is not known at this stage why the decision was made to bury the whale instead of removing it from the beach.

It comes less than a month after Port Macquarie-Hastings Council was forced to dig up a whale which had been buried on Nobbys Beach.

Locals had raised concerns that the carcass would attract sharks.

Council spokesman Matt Rogers told the ABC: "There's no admission mistakes have been made, the council simply responded to a perception in the community and that's what we're dealing with.

"It's not going to be a pleasant job."

The ABC reported that 3000 people signed a petition calling for the whale to be dug up and removed.

A detector off Lighthouse Beach, near Nobbys Beach, had identified 12 white pointers in just five days.