Days after more than 200 whales became stranded on a remote beach on Tasmania's west coast, authorities have completed the mammoth task of towing the carcasses out to deep water.
Rescuers managed to save a number of the pilot whales after 230 became stranded on Ocean Beach, near Macquarie Heads, last Wednesday.
But after the rescue operation was completed, attention turned to the disposal of the bodies of those that could not be saved.
The process to remove and dispose of the carcasses took local salmon farm workers nearly 11 hours.
Unlike a mass stranding two years ago where carcasses were left to decompose on the shore, authorities decided to tow these whales into the deeper waters of the Indian Ocean, 40 kilometres off the coast of Strahan.
Two hundred and four dead whales with a combined weight of between 500 and 600 tonnes were tied to a 400 metre-long rope and towed out to sea by boats owned and operated by fish farms in the area.
Officials hope they will sink and decompose instead of washing back up on the beach.
"The original boat we had didn't quite have enough power, so we had to get one of our bigger boats and tie the two vessels together to get them out," Huon Aquaculture's Linton Kringle said.
"To get a tow through Hell's Gate, which is only 50 metres wide, was quite hard.
"It's been a pretty big effort, the seas were getting quite rough.
"Because we had the whales hooked to the smaller boat, the waves were starting to come over the back of the vessel.
"It was disappointing we didn't save more whales, but everyone pulled together and everything seemed to go very smoothly from there.
"Big thank you to the salmon farm workers that chipped in and the Parks and Wildlife officers, it was a massive effort and hopefully we don't see it again."
A small number of remaining whales on Ocean Beach were unable to be moved and will be buried over the next several days when conditions permit, Incident Controller Brendon Clark said.
"Yesterday, we undertook extensive aerial surveillance of the area, before moving into this part of the operation," Mr Clark said.
"During that exercise, we located some live whales in Macquarie Harbour and were able to refloat and release these in deep waters.
"Once again, I would like to thank the NRE staff, volunteers, salmon companies and local community for their assistance with this operation."
West coast Mayor Shane Pitt said it was good news the carcasses had been removed so quickly after the stranding.
"The feedback I've been getting back from the public is pretty good," he said.
"Even though it's been pretty dramatic circumstances, everybody's pretty happy with how things panned out in the end.
"It is pretty important for tourism — that's what Strahan's main economy is — so it's very important.
"Given that it's coming up to a long weekend, and also the school holiday period ... a lot of residents on the west coast head down to Macquarie heads ... so it's really good news that they've been able to remove the dead carcases back out to sea."
On Saturday, several surviving whales that had been successfully refloated became stranded again in shallower waters within the Macquarie Harbour precinct.
The Department of Natural Resources and Environment (NRE Tas) said crews responded and worked to free the animals throughout the course of the afternoon.
Now the rescue efforts are complete, Tasmania's Department of Natural Resources and Environment said it would look at rationalising crew and resources and would scale back the operation.
Mary-Anne Lea, a professor in marine/polar predator ecology at the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies, said dumping the carcasses at sea was a "trade-off between managing the risk between human health and recreational use of those areas".
"Obviously whales are large and they smell, and they take a long time to decompose," she said.
"In terms of taking them out to sea where they can float or sink and decompose naturally, that's a good thing because it's a resource for other animals in the ocean."
NRE Tas's Kris Carlyon said the disposal method was not likely to increase shark activity in the area.
"That will be some distance offshore, winds and currents and swell conditions will spread those animals apart quite rapidly," he said.
NRE Tas said carcasses may wash up on local beaches over the next few weeks from currents and tidal movements, and urged people to report any sightings to the Whale Hotline on 0427 WHALES.
