Wow, here's me saving for a trip to Maui to go whale watching when I could just hop over to London!
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Whale in River Thames, London
- Thread starter mpw
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ha! everyone in the office has just said in chorus "there's a whale in the thames", then I hit new posts and look what I see! 
I thought that the Thames was too dirty for any life form to survive, how the heck did a Whale manage to survive???
SHadow
SHadow
shadowmoses said:
Apparently it has been cleaned up quite a bit over the last few years. It certainly used to be true that there was very little life, but I think this has now changed.
BBC News said:
I thought Sperm Whales were huge
Apparently there are over 120 species of fish living in the Thames, including salmon, bass and sole Seals and porpoises have been seen between Vauxhall and Richmond too.
The Thames always looks filthy since it's a tidal river with a lot of silt, hence why it looks a murky brown. The only times it really is filthy these days is when there's a major rainstorm in London and the combined rainwater/sewer system gets overwhelmed and a surge goes into the Thames. This happened in 2004 when several thousand fish died overnight.
Seals and porpoises have been seen between Vauxhall and Richmond too.The Thames always looks filthy since it's a tidal river with a lot of silt, hence why it looks a murky brown. The only times it really is filthy these days is when there's a major rainstorm in London and the combined rainwater/sewer system gets overwhelmed and a surge goes into the Thames. This happened in 2004 when several thousand fish died overnight.
I bet it's still cleaner than the Blackstone (home to the industrial revolution in the U.S.shadowmoses said:
), which for years had dyes and other extremely toxic materials dumped in it. I think you still aren't allowed to fish in it...
Not looking too good at the moment Gonzo(as some people have named him) has been pushed by the incoming tide back to between Vauxhall and Chelsea bridges(right in the centre of London for those not familar with London).The crisis time will come at noon(GMT)when at low tide Gonzo may run out of water.Go Gonzo!
Jaffa Cake said:
I'm sure Gonzo has his reasons. I find it very odd that he would venture so far up the Thames just for the halibut.
Lethal
As an update for those who aren't having this splashed across their televisions, the whale did beach itself just before noon at low tide. They put it onto a inflatable pontoon and they've now used a crane to lift it onto a barge and it's motoring down the Thames. Apparently, there it's a race against the clock since the tide is coming in and the barge can't clear the bridges at full tide.
It would be fun though if they had to open Tower Bridge to let it through
All the experts are questioning where the whale came from... I'm wondering whether anyone in London has found an unexplained pot of petunias?
It would be fun though if they had to open Tower Bridge to let it through
All the experts are questioning where the whale came from... I'm wondering whether anyone in London has found an unexplained pot of petunias?
Applespider said:
One 'expert' on the BBC's site has told us that it 'swam upstream'.
No kidding.
The news anchor on BBC News 24 just wants a picture of the whale being flown somewhere under a helicopter.
Someone mentioned it as a solution that they've used for dolphins and this twit has picked up on it and mentioned it to everyone else he's interviewed. He's got so far as speculating on which helicopter should be used.
Someone mentioned it as a solution that they've used for dolphins and this twit has picked up on it and mentioned it to everyone else he's interviewed. He's got so far as speculating on which helicopter should be used.
Applespider said:All the experts are questioning where the whale came from... I'm wondering whether anyone in London has found an unexplained pot of petunias?
I like it
Douglas Adams said:
I hope they've put maps up on the BBC website to illustrate which way is 'upstream'. We wouldn't want the news-hungry public to be confused by the terminology, would we?Nickygoat said:
Jaffa Cake said:
You joke, but I was watching the news last night and they had exactly that - a map of London with a graphic of a whale moving upstream, with a line trailing behind it just to emphasise the direction it was travelling in.
iGary said:You Brits are weird in every way.
I'm moving in.
Awesome - Every kind of nutter is welcome on our shores.
That's that decided then because you've seen the map, and because you know which way upstream is, you're officially the MacRumors Stranded Whale Expert. I expect to see you on the evening news in a dinghy supervising the rescue.Kernow said:You joke, but I was watching the news last night and they had exactly that - a map of London with a graphic of a whale moving upstream, with a line trailing behind it just to emphasise the direction it was travelling in.