Whale in London Thames,

This is very very odd, A whale is swimming in the Thames water, it is believed that the whale is about 15/20 foot,

The whale is also believed to be a Northern bottle-nosed whale,

The interesting thing here is that never has there been a bottle nosed whale in the thames, this is very far indeed from its natural place mainly in the Artic ocean,

Im hoping that they can stear it back out in to the ocean but so far its heading the wrong way,

link

Im really wondering how this animal came to swim this way?
whats changed in the waters? if anything, but still interesting to say the least.


video

www.sky.com...



[edit on 21-1-2006 by asala]

There is believed to be another in southend that is making screahing noises, they think they may be a pair,
Gosh this is eart breaking to watch, A man jumped in to the water to shoo it away from the sides s that it would not get beached,

If the whale turns around it will be a 40 mile journry for it to get back to the ocean,

I wondering why they cant hurry and do something to help this whale turn around,




[edit on 20-1-2006 by asala]

[edit on 20-1-2006 by asala]

This truly is not Natural.

A whale would not go up the River, especially not into a Mouth of a Human City.

Weird.

How is it with Whales in River Waters - aren't they used to Salty waters?

Anyway, here is the BBC photos:

Whale spotted in central London



A seven-tonne whale has made its way up the Thames to central London, where it is being watched by riverside crowds.

A rescue boat has been sent to protect the whale and rescuers have been trying to keep it away from the river banks.

Specialist equipment, including inflatable tubes to re-direct the animal downstream, are being sent.

The whale has come within yards of the banks and has crashed into an empty boat causing slight bleeding.

Can't you just Load the Whale or catch it in a Net and Drive it to Open Waters or something?

I really hope the Drive him out of the River.

I also found this Article about Sea Mammals in Thames:

197 mammals in Thames

Harbour porpoises and common seals have been seen in the Thames in London and dolphins sighted in the estuary near Southend.

Some 197 marine mammals were spotted in the river in the survey by the Zoological Society of London. Indications from the study are that harbour porpoises remain in the estuary all year round.

Dolphins were only reported during spring and summer. Seals were the most frequent mammals spotted with 46 common seals, 30 grey and 41 unidentified seals.

I guess this is the First Time a Whale came to Visit London.

How is it with Whales in River Waters - aren't they used to Salty waters?

This is one of the many problems being faced, There really is not much food for it and alo the water is very murky so the whale would have to rely on its sonar,


This is looking so bleek, the tide should turn soon so hopefully it wil swim back but its got such a long way to go,











[edit on 20-1-2006 by asala]

i think it will take a little more than someone jumping in the water and shouting 'shoo' to move a whale that size. i hope they manage to 'pursuade' it back in the other direction.

on a brighter note, its nice to know that the thames water is clean enough to sustain a live whale. i know they had sucessfully managed to introduce some freshwater mormyrids a few years back to test the pollution levels in the water.

This is a sign,

Its trying to send us a message, its trying to warn us.

I hope it all turns out well, for the whale.

A simerler thing happend in the mersey, in the 50's, a whole groupe of them came in and had to be shot to end there suffering.

On a lighter note it does prove that the water is cleaner.
y
All we have to do now is keep the Japanese ships and Greenpeace away.

That water is browner than the chocolate river that Augustus Gloop fell into.

What the hell are you guys dumping in there? That whale's screwed. That sucks because whales rock.

Peace

Originally posted by Dr Love
That water is browner than the chocolate river that Augustus Gloop fell into.

What the hell are you guys dumping in there? That whale's screwed. That sucks because whales rock.

Peace

Its Brown because of the sand and silt that get churned up when the tide comes in. If you get a glass of it and let it settle for a minute the sand will go to the bottom and the water will be mostly clean. Nearly all the rivers in the UK are like this because of what the river bed consists of and the speed of the tide.

incredibly clean river - Thames Water spent millions in the '70/80/90's cleaning up the river. One method is having a number of boats crusing the river pumping oxygen into the water - called Thames Bubblers! As a testimony to the quality of the water Salmon fry were released into the source of the river - The Isis above Oxford and have been found to consistantly return and spawn. The fact that Salmon run in the river is actually the crowning achievement for the cleanup efforts - as Salmon are a true indicator of water quality in both esturial and stream waters.

It is amazing to see the footage of this whale - radio reports indicate that the center of London was brought to a standstill by it! Worryingly recent reports are that it is in some discomfort and stressed (as of 1700GMT) - and the plan is to use booms to guide it down river with the turn of the tide. As a lover of all marine creatures I do hope this is a successful plan and it gets back to its mate (there were three wales sighted at the Thames Barrier earlier - but this is the only one that seems to have moved further upstream.


Some good facts on the whale here - Whale Details

upstream the bottle nose have been spotted,!

there may be a few more.

the tide turns at 6pm UK time, so less than 50 mins,

Why not just have a boat play some bottle-nosed whale songs under the water. Surely it would follow the boat and then the boat could lead it out to the open ocean?

Why doesn't the queen get off her arse and do something about this???? Shamu is not long for this world swimming around in that sewage ("incredibly clean river"). j/k

Peace

It's going to get shot. There's no way that creature will be able to get back out to sea.

I am also puzzled as to why a North Atlantic Deep Sea Whale is in the Thames. Odd enough for it too be in the North Sea or the English Channel, let alone up the Thames!

Dr Love, the Thames is clean mate. Water Quality in the UK is highly regulated, to the point where we pay an awful lot for it. Any slight leak into the rivers is quickly stopped and people get punished severely. It's just the silt in the water that makes it brown.

There's no way that creature will be able to get back out to sea.

Well im not giving up hope! lol

This is a strong animal, Very stressed but heck i never give up hoping,

its possible that it may be starting to head up steam,

Its coming up for air every few mins which they say is not a good sign as it means its very stressed

I really hope this brings to light the other things going on in the world of whales, like the japaneese slaughter on whales ect...

Unfortunately stumason is probably right. Usually there is some problem with whales that do something like this, many times beached whales are rescued by men only to beach themselves again. I suspect this is a similar phenomenon.

yes could be that it is ill ..but we still dont not know this, It could also be caused buy noise in the ocean, like Sub training and whatnot,

I think the best thing would be to get a sampl;e or blood test done ASAP.

that way if the whale is really ill then i would support the poor thing getting put down,

But look its come this far! its got to be somewhat very strong

[edit on 20-1-2006 by asala]

ohh at the sec they can see it!

there trying to find where it is, its dark here now..


Rescuers are standing by in case it needs help

Could they get a barge out there to rescue it? Like tranq it, haul it onto the deck and get it back to sea? Or maybe a sky crane?

This critter needs saving!

Zanzibar, I think if the animal is too stressed tranquilizing it could kill it. On the other hand the longer they wait the less likely what you have suggested could be done. They need to act now.

Forget your damned tea and crumpets for a minute and save the freakin' whales.

Peace

from Radio here - they are thinking of some kind of rescue mission - British Divers Marine Life Rescue and vets are in attendence. But they are still worried - Im a soppy bugger but I do hope its ok and they get it downriver real soon - Latest from the BBC