15 August, 2013 1:25PM AWST

The life and death of a Kimberley whale

As well as filling onlookers with awe, the death of a humpback whale on the Kimberley coast is providing insights into the life it lived.

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Death of a giantLeviathanHumpback eyeWhale tailSuper-sizedWhale pleatsBaleen whaleShark attack

From its immense bulk to its small sad eye, the rare opportunity to closely inspect a whale reveals an extraordinary animal.

Marine scientist Madeline Goddard has been studying whales from afar with the Kimberley Community Whale Research Project.

"We observe whales, alive ones in their natural habitat. But we don't get that close to them, we're looking at them through binoculars. So to see one this close is pretty surreal actually. To see its baleen plates and its massive pleats that it uses to feed, it's a little bit of a biologist's dream but it's also quite confronting."

It's not easy to tell whether the whale died from disease or was a victim of disorientation and exhaustion. But it appears the whale is a young male just a few years old.

"A yearling is between eight and ten metres and this whale is a little bit bigger than that." says Ms Goddard.

Although this whale's short life has come to an end, a dead whale is still able to play an important role in nature.

"Whales often die out to sea and will fall to the bottom of the ocean and provide life and sustenance for a whole ecosystem. There are species that are specific just to the breakdown of whale carcasses... And that ecosystem can last longer than the life of the whale itself." Ms Goddard says.

But a faster and more spectacular environmental service will be provided by this whale washed up on a Kimberley beach.

"The tide does come up around this whale and we've seen a bit of a feeding frenzy from the tiger sharks." says Ms Goddard.

In the frenzy one of the sharks even managed to beach itself, die and eventually became shark food itself.

Authorities have warned people not to swim in the area due to the increased shark activity. It's expected that it may take some weeks for the process of consumption and decomposition to be completed.

You can listen to Madeline Goddard talking about humpback whales in the Kimberley with ABC Kimberley's Ben Collins.