A Bottleneck Whale Spotted in the River Thames Central London

[anythinggoes]

Whale spotted in central London?
 
The whale was spotted by tourists and boaters
A large whale has been spotted in the River Thames in central London by boaters and sightseers.
The mammal, thought to be a pilot whale which can grow to 20ft, was seen swimming past the Houses of Parliament.

"I saw it blow, it was a spout of water which sparkled in the air," said Tom Howard-Vyne, who works at the London Eye, on the other side of the river.

The whale is believed to have travelled upstream passing the Thames Barrier early on Friday morning.

'Breathing normally'

"It was on this side of Westminster Bridge and 10 minutes ago it was near the House of Commons, " said Mr Howard-Vyne. "It was an amazing sight."

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) sent a lifeboat to check up on the whale's condition.

Liz Sandeman, a medic of the Marine Connection, a whale and dolphin protection charity, accompanied the RNLI to examine the animal.

"It looks quite healthy and quite relaxed," she said. "It's breathing normally and its weight seems good."

She said boats in the river could be a danger to the animal.

"There's also the noise which could affect it - the Thames is extremely busy. The last thing we want to do is stress the animal out.

"Some people think it has lost its way or is not feeling well, but it's very hard to say why it is here."



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Do you have any pictures or moving footage of the whale? If so, you can send them to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or MMS them to 07725 100 100
 

[Evolution]

Pretty cool thing to see. I wish Loch Ness was more busy sometimes

[Izzy]

The other year a Great White Shark was seen off Cornwall

[jarmo]

Things like this doesn't happen that often. Wonder what's next? Axl will be spotted in London in 2006 as well?

Maybe it's a sign! 




/jarmo

[anythinggoes]

Things like this doesn't happen that often. Wonder what's next? Axl will be spotted in London in 2006 as well?

Maybe it's a sign!?




/jarmo

1913 was the last recorded sighting of one so not as long a wait as Axl Yet

[SLCPUNK]

I thought this was a post in the obesity thread for a minute............

[Rockin' Rose]

I hope the whale finds a way back to the ocean

[R4tfink]

Apparently the Whale is now out of sight and they are worried it might beach itself!

 

[Graciela]

There's been a sighting at Greenwich. Hopefully that means that it's finding its way back to open sea. Now the question is if it will be fit enough to carry on its journey

[Drew]

Pretty wild story. Interesting though. I actually heard about the story on a sports television prgram called Pardon The Interruption earlier evening.

[Evolution]

My brother tells me it's stuck in an estuary. They need a helicopter to move it or something.

[Drew]

Their using a crane on a boat to load and move the whale now.

[Drew]

Sad news. The River Thames whale died this evening.

[Evolution]

By Jeremy Lovell

LONDON (Reuters) - Initial optimism over the health of a rescued whale being ferried down the River Thames on a barge to freedom faded on Saturday when its condition suddenly took a turn for the worse.

The adolescent northern bottle-nosed whale made international headlines after it strayed up the Thames to central London on Friday, and huge crowds lining the river banks burst into applause as the rescue got under way on Saturday.

It was first time since records began in 1913 that a whale had been seen so far upstream.

"The vets on board were initially cautiously optimistic that it was healthy and could be released. But that has been replaced by pessimism as its condition deteriorates rapidly," Tony Woodley of British Divers Marine Life Rescue told Reuters.

The choice facing the veterinary experts on board the barge carrying the deep-diving 18-foot (six meter) mammal toward the open sea was whether to release it into the estuary and hope it swam out to deep water or kill it to save it further suffering.

"It always was a trade-off between the whale's health and the distance we could take it to deep water. It seems now the decision will have to be taken in the next couple of hours," Woodley said.

As the barge sped toward open waters 40 miles downstream, volunteers poured water onto the whale to keep its skin damp.

Time was always going to be crucial because the whale's body is not designed to bear its own weight and it could begin to suffocate if kept out of the water too long.

The whale, one of the world's deepest diving mammals that usually travels in groups, triggered international interest when it was first spotted near the Houses of Parliament.

Experts speculated that it was so far from its natural environment because it was either very ill, had got lost chasing food or had been driven from its usual habitat by military testing or loud sonar.

Another northern bottle-nosed whale was seen on Friday in the Thames estuary, and on Saturday the body of a dead harbor porpoise was found upstream at Putney.

Whale expert Peter Evans of the Sea Watch Foundation praised the rescue operation that involved partially beaching the whale, moving it onto an inflatable pontoon and floating it down to the waiting barge.

But he questioned the wisdom of releasing it into the shallow waters and busy traffic lanes of the Thames estuary.

"There is a real danger that, if it is well enough to release, letting it go again in the estuary will simply mean it will beach itself again," he told Reuters.

"In a perfect world it would be taken either by road or barge to the Atlantic where there is less danger from shipping and easy access to deeper waters," he added.

Attempts were made during the night to encourage the whale to swim back downriver.

At one stage it was spotted as far downstream as Greenwich, but it returned upstream to what appeared to be its preferred spot between Chelsea and Albert Bridges.

Although it was the first time a whale had been spotted so far up the river, sightings of seals and dolphins have risen steadily further downstream over the past five years as the water quality has improved.

[nevermiss24]

whales are cool

[R4tfink]

And sadly this one is now dead.

[AxlsMainMan]

Rest In Peace big guy...

[R4tfink]

Why has Wally gone white?

And why do you never see White Dog shit anymore?

[anythinggoes]

Why has Wally gone white?

And why do you never see White Dog shit anymore?

hes gone cold ?

no more calcium in dog food i think

[R4tfink]

Thanks man! I was hoping for people to relate and liaise with me about the lack of white dog shit in the world, you seemed to have nipped that one in the bud straight away though with scientific fact. 

Poor Wally, he looks damn ugly being white.