Large sharks were chomping on the carcass as it drifted off Oahu.

"I would say six to eight tigers and there's a couple galapagos and oceanic white tips. The smaller sharks held their distance. The tiger sharks sort of owned the carcass," said videographer Alex Wejerfelt.

There were some tense moments when the camera crew got close. Armed with paddles, they kept a close eye on the sharks. Some were longer than their boat.

"There was a couple times we had to push down pretty hard on their noses. They banged into the cameras pretty hard a few times," said Wejerfelt. "The thing we were thinking about the most was just having one of the chambers in the dinghy pop."

Authorities have been tracking the carcass. The state issued an alert warning people should stay away from the carcass because of large sharks in the area. Signs were also posted after it washed up a mile east of Kahuku Point, which is about two miles from Turtle Bay.

"There is still concern for sharks. This is obviously about a 10-ton chunk of whale and it's a good food source for large predators," said David Schofield, NOAA marine mammal response coordinator.

Schofield said the carcass is badly decomposed and about one-third of it is already gone. Experts fear it will break apart if it's towed out to sea.

"Due to safety risk, due to ecological impact, and also in part due to funding, it's going to be highly improbable to tow that animal out to sea," Schofield said.

The carcass is stuck on a remote beach surrounded by private property. Authorities hope to gain access so it can be cut up and removed.

"Where it is, because of the vegetation and the rocky ledge and then the shelf, makes it difficult to get any type of piece equipment down in there so we're working with various landowners and working on strategies to be able to access the whale," Schofield said.

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