A lost whale has been sited in the Thames River in London more than 40 miles upriver from the open sea. Experts say the Northern Bottle-nosed Whale is approximately 20 feet long and is probably ill.
Northern Bottle-nosed whales usually live in the north Atlantic in colder waters and can reach up to 30 feet in length and weigh up to eight tons. They are known as curious creatures and often approach boats at sea. Of course, none have been known to check out Big Ben or the Parliament Building before.
This whale continues to swim in shallow water and is heading upstream away from the sea.
'The fact that it is swimming upstream is not a good sign,' Alison Shaw, a manager of the Zoological Society of London, Marine & Freshwater Conservation Program told the Associated Press. 'The whale must be confused or ill.'
The whale seems to head towards shallow water but rescuers prevent it from beaching itself. They are trying to encourage the marine mammal to turn around and head back to sea but they are not optimistic.
'When whales turned up in strange places before, they have been old, sick or wounded,' Mark Simmonds, director of the Science, Whale & Dolphin Conservation Society explained.
For now, crowds of curious people are watching as marine biologists attempt to encourage the creature to swim back to open waters.
