A colossal blue whale that washed up dead in New Zealand had been bitten several times by great white sharks.
PHOTOS: Giant of the sea's sad end
But authorities say the 21m, 150-tonne female, which washed up on the northern tip of New Zealand's south island, probably died long before the sharks fed on it.
Abalone fishermen found the carcass two days ago near remote Whanganui Inlet and observed the sharks had taken large chunks out of the whale's tale.
Other bites were scattered across its body, they said.
"It's the biggest [whale] I've ever seen … It's huge," fisherman Philip Walker told stuff.co.nz.
The New Zealand Department of Conservation said the whale carcass would be left to rot because it washed up in a place too inaccessible to remove.
The department confirmed the shark bites were made by great whites.
Authorities will take photographs and samples of the whale for further study at the University of Auckland.
Blue whales, the largest animals on the planet, have dwindled in population in recent years, with fewer than 2000 thought to still be alive.
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