Authorities have returned to Perth’s City Beach to remove a 31-tonne whale carcass that washed ashore this week.

The 13m humpback whale was discovered on the shoreline on Monday and has attracted great white and tiger sharks close to shore, along with dozens of onlookers catching a glimpse of the spectacle.

A smoking ceremony was conducted at the beach on Wednesday before heavy machinery was used to move the 31-tonne whale 1.5km down the beach.

A Town of Cambridge spokesman said the ceremony was conducted to pay respect to the whale as part of the removal process.

The huge mammal will be removed from the beach and trucked to landfill.

It is estimated to cost ratepayers about $100,000 to remove the carcass.

The Town of Cambridge Council closed all beaches in the area while they worked with authorities to carry out the safe removal of the carcass, which is expected to take several hours.

“The Town is co-ordinating the heavy machinery, contractors and operational support needed, and specialist staff are on site to plan the removal,” a spokesman said.

“DPIRD and Surf Life Saving WA are providing shark and beach safety information.

“The beaches will stay closed while the carcass is present and until it is safe to reopen them.”

Town workers set up an exclusion zone along the beach to allow specialist crews and machinery to operate safely while the carcass was removed.

Residents were asked to avoid the area and not to fly drones anywhere near the gruesome operation.

“Unfortunately, some people have breached the existing barriers,” a spokesman said.

“These controls are in place for public and worker safety.

“People must not enter the exclusion zone, and anyone who disregards the barriers or lawful directions may be issued with an infringement.”

A Perth teenager was filmed dancing on the carcass earlier this week, which drew criticism from authorities.

Cambridge Mayor Gary Mack told media it was inappropriate.

“We don’t know the structural integrity of that. We don’t know what the bacteria is. People shouldn’t be doing that at all,” he said.

“The fact that a whale’s lost its life is one thing, and it’s not a play thing. It’s very serious. We do know that there’s some pretty big sharks out there, and they can come right within the break.”

Originally published as Authorities use heavy machinery to remove 31-tonne whale carcass from Perth beach