Dead whale taken off Clifton beach

A "gravely decomposed" 10 metre-long whale was removed from Clifton beach around midday, the City of Cape Town says.

The whale had beached on the rocks between 3rd and 4th Beach on Friday.

"Due to the high spring tides and strong currents the whale was washed onto Glen Beach," the city said.

The city was able to remove the carcass just after noon.

"The operation took longer than anticipated as a result of a high spring tides, strong currents as well as Clifton and Glen beaches being inaccessible to the heavy duty equipment utilised by Solid Waste Management to remove whales."