Why does Wollongong take its dead whales to landfill?

The sight of a baby whale carcass being towed onshore from Flagstaff Point this week - en route to the city's tip - sparked some confusion among onlookers, who questioned why the body wasn't towed out to sea, buried in sand, detonated or left to the circle of life.

While no official records are kept, Tuesday's juvenile humpback is believed to be the fifth or sixth whale sent to landfill at the Whytes Gully Waste Facility in the past decade.

A spokesperson for Wollongong City Council said council staff excavated a two-metre hole and covered the carcass with at least half a metre of cover material.

"Not all dead whales sink to the bottom of the ocean," the spokeswoman said.

"Those that end up on our coast, do have a strong smell, especially as they begin to decompose. If left unburied and out in the open for too long, a dead whale can begin to give off a strong odour. Burying organic material restricts airflow and minimises odour."

Transporting to landfill is the state government's preferred management option for carcasses found in urban and high visitation areas.

"This approach is taken to address community concerns around sharks, which may be drawn to investigate the carcass," the council spokeswoman said.

"Blowing up a dead whale can result in mess, smell and safety issues. Towing large marine mammals/animals like whales out to sea can attract sharks. They also present a known maritime hazard to boats and ships. It's also not ideal to bury a whale on the beach as sands can shift, potentially exposing buried materials.

"The Environment Protection Authority (EPA) assists land managers (such as Council) to dispose of deceased whales by allowing for an exemption from the waste levy and ensuring deceased whales are accepted as putrescible waste at waste facilities. All leachate generated from landfill is controlled and managed under an environmental protection licence."

It was common for whale carcasses to be buried on NSW beaches until 2019, when the government carried out a review, sparked by community concern that the burials attracted sharks.

"The review's aim was to investigate public concerns, explore the science and suggest management responses to give the community greater confidence that land managers are making informed choices," a spokeswoman for the National Parks and Wildlife Service said.

"A scientific investigation found that whale carcasses buried on beaches were unlikely to attract sharks, however under some environmental conditions the risk could not be completely eliminated.

"Based on these findings, whale carcasses are no longer buried on beaches in high visitation areas, except in a limited number of circumstances."

Whales are left in situ to naturally decompose when they wash ashore in remote NSW locations.

Beach burials remain an option in places where it is not possible to leave the body exposed.

According to NPWS guidelines, when burying a whale, the creature's body cavity should be opened once in the pit "to promote decomposition and gas release".