Whale seen swimming with bathers on Australian beach dies

() – A whale that became stranded on a sandbank at a popular beach near Perth, Western Australia, over the weekend has died.

Western Australia Parks and Wildlife Service officials confirmed the 15-metre-long whale died on Tuesday morning after swimming off the sandbank into open water.

“It was moving cautiously and only swam 200 to 300 metres before stopping. Its breathing gave us some indication that it was really coming to the end,” said Mark Cugley, incident controller for the Parks and Wildlife Service.

The whale appeared on Rockingham Beach on Saturday, where people swam near it, touched it and took selfies.

The whale would have already been in distress when it washed ashore Saturday and interactions with people may have increased its stress, government marine mammal expert Kelly Waples said Monday.

“Whales are pelagic animals, meaning they live in deep waters and that’s where they forage and spend their time,” Waples explained. “It’s quite unusual to see them so close to shore.”

The whale swam out to sea after that interaction on Saturday but was found stranded on a nearby sandbar on Monday “thin, emaciated and in a place where it doesn’t belong,” Waples said.

“He arrived in this area in very poor health and it is highly unlikely that he will survive.”

Authorities had considered euthanizing the whale before it was found dead.

According to a statement from the Western Australian Parks and Wildlife Service, rangers will now move the 30-tonne carcass to a “safer location in the water, away from the beach”, which remains closed.