KAHUKU, Hawaii -- A rotting whale carcass that washed up on the Kahuku shoreline last week was finally removed Thursday thanks to a joint effort by the State Department of Land and Natural Resources, National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration Fisheries and Hawaii Pacific University.

The crews did not follow in the footsteps of Oregon officials who, in 1970, used dynamite to try to get rid of a whale carcass. Pieces of the whale were found as far as a half mile away, officials said.

The crews did, however, use heavy equipment and a lot of elbow grease.

The 10 tons' worth of whale remains was pulled off the rocky coast Thursday morning.

"(It) basically landed in a catcher's mitt of lava. Lava on top, lava rock on the side and it was in that pocket -- very difficult to extract the whale," NOAA Marine Mammal Response Coordinator David Schofield said.

Ten thousand-pound straps and shackles and a backhoe were used to drag it up the beach.

Now it's giving local scientists and college students a whale of an opportunity.

"We have a tooth, and with these animals that have teeth, we have the opportunity to section these, and it's just like the growth rings in a tree. We'll get the age of this individual once we get the tooth back to the lab," HPU assistant professor Kristi West said.

Bones and some flesh were also taken for study, West said.

The next task for the crews was getting the carcass into the back of the big truck.

Heavy machine operator David Ching said he has been operating this type of heavy equipment for 30 years.

"It's like picking up jelly," Ching said.

While that jelly was being moved inland, state officials kept an eye on the ocean.

"A 12 foot shark, we are not sure of the species, came right in close to the carcass yesterday on the high tide. We did not see anything today," Department of Land and Natural Resources spokesman Jeff Walters said.

A two-mile stretch of the coastline is closed until at least Friday, officials said.

The whale carcass was then taken to a nearby property, where it was buried in a 20-foot-deep hole.

Schofield said they would rather tow dead whales out to sea, but they said they were unable to do so in this case because it was not reported to them in time.

"If we hear about it the next day, it's really like looking for a needle in a haystack," he said.

Anyone who sees a dead whale should call NOAA immediately at 888-256-9840 or contact the Coast Guard.

While moving the bones the crew hit an unexpected roadblock that snarled traffic.

The bones from the carcass fell off a truck at the intersection of Kahekili Highway and Haiku Road in Kaneohe. The bones were on their way to Hawaii Pacific University for research.

"These are big, heavy and they're slippery. I'm sure every precaution was taken, but something happened here, and whether it had to do with the intersection and acceleration I'm not sure right now," HPU Vice President of Administration Rick Stepien said.

The bones caused quite a stench, drawing neighbors out of their homes to investigate the smell.

The crew moving the whalebones was able to reload the bones back onto the truck after cutting them into smaller pieces.

Firefighters cleaned up the mess using absorbents to soak up the whale oil on the road.