Whale spotted in central London

[Surya Gayatri]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4631396.stm


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


The 16-18ft (5m) northern bottle-nosed whale, which is usually found in deep sea waters, has been seen as far upstream as Chelsea.

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.

Vets are remaining on standby and experts have said it does not appear to be ill, but are concerned it will get weaker and may become beached."

<snip>

Such whale and dolphin beachings are becoming more & more common--is it due to sonar interference w/ their echo navigation systems or marine pollution which messes up their instincts? No-one knows for the moment. SAVE THE WHALES!! SG

[...of J.Temperance]

1. Yes SKY News has had pretty much non-stop coverage ALL afternoon

Totally over-the-top in my opinion. Yes, it's unusual for a Northern bottle-nosed whale to be in such waters...but it's not enough to make a main news channel broadcast non-stop live coverage of the thing.

On Edit: Dammit spelling error. Need more coffee.

[Surya Gayatri]

7. I'm sure I'm anthropomorphizing, but

I just feel so sorry for these creatures--lost and struggling, losing strength, looking for the "exit". Of course, the media coverage is OTT, pure "escapism" from more worthy issues, but I can't help empathizing with them. ;( SG

[...of J.Temperance]

12. I feel sorry for the whale too

And I'm hoping that it's going to be okay, it's a living thing, so of course I empathize with it.

What I meant was the non-stop all afternoon news coverage is a bit absurd...what with all of the other news stories that are going on.

[displacedtexan]

2. Rush L's Girlfriend: "There's a blow hole center screen."

After I realized CNN's Daryn Kagen wasn't referring to herself, I saw the whale in the Thames.

[Surya Gayatri]

8. LOL! Good one! n/t

[applegrove]

3. They say it tried to beach itself. Scientists say it followed fish too

far and got lost. Hope it is okey.

[Surya Gayatri]

9. Me too,

I wouldn't like to be "stuck up the river without my sonar" & no friends or family around! SG

[BushOut06]

4. What's Karl Rove doing swimming over there? n/t

[Surya Gayatri]

10. His political "sonar" is proving

to be a little less reliable these days. Let's hope he'll be flopping around like a fish out of water asap. SG

[zbdent]

5. Didn't know OxyRush was skinnydipping

in the UK . . .

[willing dwarf]

6. WWSW? or What would Spencer write?

I can't help thinking of Spencer's Poem Prothalamion,in repsonse to this news.

Sweet Thames flow softly till I sing my song...

Only now it would be names "Pro Leviathan"

and the chorus would be something like "Sweet Whale swim gently and sing your song."

Superflous thoughts, but nice to think of the river Thames, that dark Leviathan of a river now with a true Leviathin swimming within it.

Isn't all of life that way? The river which we swim in also swims in us. The waters are full of sharks, but even so, there are mermaids singing on the rocks, and there are amazing mysterious cretures that sometimes swim into or ken.

[Surya Gayatri]

11. Yes, I read that even 30 years ago

no sea mammals (whales or seals, for example) could have survived in the Thames water--but the clean-up has changed that. Now seals are sighted regularly. BTW, I enjoyed your literary references! SG