Whale in the Thames

Click here for live video of whale rescue

A bottlenose whale is stuck in the River Thames in London. Lets all hope that it's OK.



The 16-18ft (5m) northern bottle-nosed whale, first spotted on Friday, is now in shallow waters near Battersea Bridge where vets are examining its health.

Teams, including four biologists, have manoeuvred it into a sling, to keep the whale's blowhole above water, and to keep it calm.

Depending on its condition it could be moved onto a barge or taken to shore.

A sighting of the whale, which also has signs of injury, on Saturday near Albert Bridge in Chelsea, disappointed rescuers buoyed by an earlier report that it had been seen in Greenwich, which is closer to the sea.

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Mark Stevens, from British Divers Marine Life Rescue, speaking to the BBC from the river, said the first thing vets are doing is carrying out ultra sound tests to see how much blubber it had.

He said the animal's breathing is "acceptable considering the situation" and that blood tests will be carried out.

"We have to keep all of our options open and be ready to listen to anyone else that comes along with options," he added.

"I mean this is probably something of a black art in terms of what happens, because this doesn't happen very often". Tony Woodley, of the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR), said his colleagues are laying hands on the whale to reassure it.



Now it is in the sling the whale can then be controlled without its movements being determined by time and tide, he added.

He said: "If the vet's opinion is that it's not likely to survive [a rescue attempt] we might have to euthenase the whale. But we don't want to do that."

A barge belonging to the Port of London Authority was on standby, a BDMLR spokesman said.

The whale, which could weigh about four tonnes, was first spotted at 0830 GMT on Friday by a man on a train and has since attracted massive public and media attention.

It soon became clear there was cause for concern, as the animal came within yards of the banks, almost beaching, and crashed into an empty boat, causing itself slight bleeding.

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Crowds have again flocked to the riverbank to

catch a glimpse, prompting appeals for sight-seeing boats to keep well clear. There was also concern that helicopters being used to film the rescue could be disturbing the whale.

Paul Jepson, a vet with the Zoological Society of London, was said to have seen the whale from a boat and expressed concern about injuries on its head and tail, and the disorientated manner in which it was swimming.

There were reports of a pod of whales in the Thames estuary earlier in the week, and it was possible that the whale had become separated from this group.

There was also an unconfirmed sighting of a whale in Southend in Essex on Friday. It was the first sighting of the endangered species in the Thames since records began nearly a century ago.

Thanks for posting this. my husband told me about it yesterday but the story he found wasn't nearly so informative. This one has alot of good pictures. I'm currently illustrating a kids book about whales, I've been looking at tons of pictures of them, so this is especially interesting!

The whale has died at 7.00pm on the barge - have just been watching live BBC news on the internet. :(

So very sad - they certainly pulled out all the stops to try and save it, though I suspect it would have died whatever was done for it - it is usually a sign that something is very wrong when they go off route like that. The people who worked so hard to try and save it will be devastated.


RIP, big guy. :(

Oh no :(

RIP

Rest in peace, bottlenose friend. I am sorry you were sick, and hurt, and we humans tried to help.

Swim nicely in the seas of heaven, join the pod of friends gone on before, and know that you touched many lives and hearts.

Poor whale:( but at least all of those kind hearted people tried to save it. It's not struggling or in pain any more, but it's such a shame:( :( :(

:(

Ohhh, this makes me sad :(

I watched that the whale had died some minutes ago on the BBC... :(

It's really sad, whales are such amazing creatures...

:(

I just thought you'd like to know that the whale has died :( :( :( . It's mega sad coz it was really close to the open sea as well :(