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By Jeremy Lovell
Sat Jan 21, 3:06 PM ET
LONDON (Reuters) The northern bottle-nosed whale that made world headlines when it strayed into the River Thames in central London two days ago has died as rescuers were trying to rush it to safety aboard a barge.
The news follows a sharp decline in the health of the adolescent 18-foot whale after initial optimism that it could be returned to freedom.
"I am afraid it had a convulsion and died at 1900 hours," Tony Woodley of British Divers Marine Life Rescue told Reuters by telephone.
The whale captured the hearts of the nation with live television coverage of every twist and turn in the saga, 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.
As the barge sped toward open waters 40 miles downstream, volunteers poured water onto the whale to keep its skin damp.
But 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 had 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.
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.
Sat Jan 21, 3:06 PM ET
LONDON (Reuters) The northern bottle-nosed whale that made world headlines when it strayed into the River Thames in central London two days ago has died as rescuers were trying to rush it to safety aboard a barge.
The news follows a sharp decline in the health of the adolescent 18-foot whale after initial optimism that it could be returned to freedom.
"I am afraid it had a convulsion and died at 1900 hours," Tony Woodley of British Divers Marine Life Rescue told Reuters by telephone.
The whale captured the hearts of the nation with live television coverage of every twist and turn in the saga, 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.
As the barge sped toward open waters 40 miles downstream, volunteers poured water onto the whale to keep its skin damp.
But 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 had 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.
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.
