Great White stalks whale carcass at beach in South Australia

A huge Great White Shark has been spotted stalking a whale carcass that has washed up on a beach in South Australia

The dead humpback whale was found on a remote stretch of the coast at Frenchman Bluff, about 60km north of Port Lincoln at the weekend.

The massive predator can be seen swimming through shallow water just metres away from the dead whale.

The discovery of the young humpback whale has upset locals who are baffled as to how it came to be washed up.

Its body was covered in lacerations but there were no obvious bite-marks from sea predators.

"There's a few marks on there, whether they're from sharks or not I'm not too sure, could've been because it's washed over reef," Brett Mansforth yold 9NEWS.

The whale is believed to be about seven to eight metres long, but can grow up to 16 metres .

One expert told 9NEWS the whale appeared to be very lean for its age and suspected it may have been sick.

The whale watching season only began last month but it has been a very quiet start. This is only the sixth official sighting of a whale in South Australian waters for the year.

Officials from the state's environment department were expected to inspect the carcass in the past few days.