NORTH SHORE, Hawaii -- Access to a sperm whale carcass is making it more difficult to remove the remains of the whale that washed up on Oahu's North Shore.

The carcass is stuck on rocks just off Kawela Bay, at the end of Marconi Road. A dispute with a landowner is making the situation tricky.

"If this was Waikiki they would not have let this thing come on the shore," North Shore resident Eddie Rothman said.

Rothman controls the most direct access to the beach where the whale washed ashore. He said he believes state and federal officials let the carcass drift into shore on purpose and already have a plan for Hawaii Pacific University to salvage the skeleton.

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources said fishermen first reported seeing the whale on June 29, miles out in the open ocean. It is not clear why no public warning was issued when the carcass was closer to shore.

News stations were alerted when a photographer with Malae Productions shot video of sharks feeding on the whale.

No matter what officials decide to do, it is not going to be a quick fix. It could be weeks before this is hauled out of here.

Rothman said he was told it would be too expensive and more dangerous to try towing the carcass away.

"I told him you can come on here and investigate it. Do what you like, but you are not chopping it up here. You are not leaving pieces here," Rothman said. "I don't want it buried here and I don't want it chopped up here."

"We don't want to impact the reef and we don't want to attract more sharks," National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Mammal Response Coordinator David Schofield said. "If it had washed up on a nice sandy beach we could get front-end loaders in and scoop it up, but where it is with the rocky ledge and the shelf makes it difficult to get any type of piece of equipment in there."

State and federal agencies said they have checked with two marine salvage companies and four marine mammal experts who agree that the carcass is now too far gone to tow. They are trying working with other adjacent landowners to get access to the area.

Officials are arranging to bury the carcass somewhere on the North Shore. They said they hope to resolve the access issue before the week's end.