Whale of the Thames

The Baleine of the Thames is the nickname given to a young female Hyperoodon (or whale with nozzle) appeared in the the Thames in full heart of London the January 20th 2006. According to BBC, it was 5 meters long and weighed approximately 7 tons. It would seem that the animal found itself at this place after being itself lost, its natural habitat being the coasts of the north of Ireland and Scotland and the seas of the Arctic Ocean. It is the first time that such a specimen is observed in the Thames since 1913. She swam until the Albert Bridge, before the experts start to try to lead it until the the North Sea. Nevertheless, she died in approximately 19:00 GMT on January 21st.

In May 1966, another Cetacea, called Moby, had created sensation with the Netherlands and in Germany, remaining during four weeks in the bed of the the Rhine. The white whale had gone up the river on several hundred km, until - beyond Bonn, giving the opportunity to the members of the Bundestag to stop their work to go to contemplate the mammal at the time of its passage in front of their building. The animal had then regained itself the North Sea.

January 20th

Friday January 20th with 08:30 GMT, a man called the authorities since a train to announce that he believed to have seen a whale swimming in the the Thames. During the morning, more and more of witnesses also announced to have seen a whale. The news was confirmed by a television channel which recorded the first images of the animal. Many Londoners then precipitated in the streets to observe the phenomenon.

However, the whale failed itself many recoveries whereas the tide dropped. Certain people went on the banks of the river to encourage the animal to join deeper water. The situation became worrying because the Hyperoodon S generally swim in deep water and can plunge up to 700 meters whereas the Thames makes at this place only a few meters of depth. Moreover of the traces of blood were visible, surely due to a collision with a boat.

Whereas the night fell, it seemed that the whale had started to swim with the current in direction of the sea. A cameraman of BBC stated to have seen it around 21 hours with Greenwich. However, its trace was lost until she again was seen towards 1:10 the morning following to the level of Battersea, after the tide started to ebb.

January 21st

The whale had not been seen for a certain period and much feared that she perished. However, she was seen by a boat of the authorities of the port to 09:25 GMT close to the Albert Bridge. Around midday, the whale had failed itself once again. The British Diverse Marine Life Rescue then decided that it was time to act and to try to save the animal with the assistance of the authorities of the Port of London. Rescuers then captured the animal, the eyes hid to him to prevent that it does not panic and started to examine it.

Two hours later, the whale was delicately transported by a crane on a barge close to the Pont of Battersea. At this time, of the thousands of curious observed the situation since the banks of the Thames and the images of the cameras which filmed the rescue made the round the world tour. But the excitation of the preceding day had left room to concern because much feared that the whale cannot survive a long time any more under such conditions. Whereas the barge moved towards the sea, the chains of information diffused flashes uninterrupted. The barge reached the barrier of the Thames to the surroundings 17:00 GMT. Later, in spite of the darkness, one saw people piling up on the Pont Queen Elizabeth II to try to see the convoy.

As time passed, the health of the animal became alarming because this one was at this time out of water. The projects to release it in the Atlantic Ocean had been abandoned. The handing-over with water were envisaged on the coasts of the Kent close to Margate around 21:00 - 21h30 GMT. During all this time, a veterinary surgeon on board barge had the responsibility to slacken the animal or to practice the euthanasia of it if its survival could not be assured. Later, the animal was in a critical condition, breathing with difficulty and with muscular problems.

With 19:08 GMT, following convulsions, the death of the whale was confirmed.

January 23rd

After an action of The Sun , which had joined together funds (£10.000), the skeleton of the animal is recovered and will be shown in the Muséum of natural history.

External bonds

  • a whale in the Thames in London (Dispatch French-speaking Switzerland Television of the 1/20/2006)
  • the whale mislaid in dead London east of its fresh water stay (Dispatch AFP taken again by Yahoo! Current events of the 1/25/2006)
  • the whale of London would die of hunger and thirst ( Sciences and Avenir , 1/25/2006)

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