The Department of Conservation's preparing to remove a dead orca near Christchurch's Waimairi Beach this morning

The whale was found north of the beach yesterday afternoon, where DOC staff, local iwi and Project Jonah members stayed overnight.

DOC Operations Manager Andy Thompson says the adult orca was dead when it was spotted by a member of the public.

A Massey University vet pathologist will fly in to a necropsy - before appropriate tikanga is followed and the whale buried on the beach.