Locals stunned as enormous whale washes up on beach in Levin

Levin locals were shocked to find an enormous dead whale washed up on Waitārere beach this afternoon.

"It was a shock to look at because it was so huge," witness Breannah Smith told 1 NEWS.

Smith said the whale looked to be bigger than a bus.

Another local witness said it was sad to see, but a privilege to get up close to the mammal.

"It's definitely not something we see up this way," said Cook Winterburn.

Diggers later arrived to dig a grave in the sand dunes for the whale, Smith says.

A spokesperson for the Department of Conservation confirmed rangers attended and worked with local iwi to bury it.

The whale was already dead when it washed ashore, but the cause of death is not yet known.