Not merely for sleepy old Adelaide, but a dead whale washing up on a local beach would pique the interest of most TV news directors.
So, when the remains of a very rare 13-metre male Sei whale appeared on a local Adelaide beach, 7News sent trusty scribe Kimberley Pratt and crew down for a full report.
Problem was, the carcass – that local sharks had recently turned into dinner – was giving off an unbelievably bad stench that had the young reporter gagging and possibly a mere step away from an actual on-air vomit.
“Oh, I got a thick bit,” Pratt says in the footage she posted to Twitter, as a group of “mammal recovery officers” can be seen cleaning up the dead whale in the background.
Pratt posted alongside her tweet: “A good cameraman doesn’t miss a thing… in fact, they zoom in!”
“This was me having a ‘whale of a time’ reporting on the removal of the rotting, stinking carcass,” the reporter wrote.
And if there’s a happy addendum to this whiffy story, the whale’s bones – being an endangered species – are set for display in the South Australian Museum. The remaining carcass will be composted and turned into fertiliser.
Watch all the glamour of live TV reporting below:
A good cameraman doesn’t miss a thing… in fact, they zoom in. 🎥
This was me having a ‘whale of a time’ reporting on the removal of the rotting, stinking carcass. 🤢 @7NewsAdelaide @CashinADL7 pic.twitter.com/0ueK3gJz0V
— Kimberley Pratt (@KimberleyPratt_) September 14, 2021
