A whale has been swimming up the Thames this morning. I am watching the live coverage.

I hope it survives Experts seem a little concerned but they are not trying to get it out to open water just yet as they don't want to stress it. It's beached itself twice briefly but the tide will go down at some point.

Please pray for our little London whale to get home safely

Extract from the BBC News website:

A whale has made its way up the River Thames to central London, where it is being watched by riverside crowds.
The northern bottle-nosed whale, which is 16-18ft long and is usually found in deep sea waters, has passed Parliament and is moving upstream.

"I saw it blow, it was a spout of water which sparkled in the air," said eyewitness Tom Howard-Vyne.

A boat has been sent to protect the whale and rescuers have been trying to keep it away from the Thames's banks.

It has come within yards of the banks and has crashed into an empty boat, while trapped in a narrow estuary between the banks and moored vessels.

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

Full story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/h...631396.stm
[Edited 1/21/06 12:37pm]

oh dear

thats so sad... hes just trying to get home poor guy, i bet hes scared to death

poor whale!!

saw it on t.v, poor thing.

he looks like a big dolphin

...wonder why our planets animals are doing such odd things

Well, that's nothin new, Mach. Whales have a strange self destructive instinct just like lemmings do, where they essentially commit suicide by beaching themselves when they get sick. I never understand it. It's like they're completely unaware that their weight will crush their rib cages and lungs on dry land. Meanwhile, human babies are born with the understanding that a flying object to the face or falling down the stairs will hurt them, although they have no concept of gravity or impact. Whales and lemmings (and I'm sure other animals I'm forgetting) have a blind spot in their instinctual coding.
[Edited 1/20/06 8:18am]

have a blind spot in their instinctual coding.



perhaps they arnt as "blind" as we make them out to be ...

maybe they do know exactly what they are doing

Mach said:

Very Robert Heinlein of you to say so.

TheSmyrk said:

who the hell ?

Steadwood, thank you for puttin those links in your sig. I never heard of these humanitarian websites. You made my fuckin day.

Can someone help him?

Mach said:

Robert Heinlein is this amazing sci-fi writer who I always loved. He had a series of shorts called the Past Through Tomorrow, where he kind of retells history using characters in the far-flung future. Anyway, he would reason that the whales and the lemmings were trying to tell us something all along by sacrificing themselves the way they do. Either that or they're trying to avoid some catastrophe we're all yawning and waiting for.

Reincarnate said:

TheSmyrk said:

Thank You....You're welcome...

TheSmyrk said:

he is worthy



.
[Edited 1/20/06 9:00am]

poor thing! Hope it's okay!

meltwithu said:

Is that a sperm-whale?



M

Daily there are thousands of humanbeings wondering around the planet earth lost, alone and scared. However, let that happen to one whale and people's hearts bleed.

oh brother.

MickG said:

MickG said:

compassion is compassion, what is wrong with that?
[Edited 1/20/06 13:45pm]

Well, if it wasn't such a slow news day, their would be no campassion. What about the compassion for all those people who are out there right now thinking the world is against them, and for them I am sure it seems it.

Where are all the fucking work teams for these lost human souls? Where's the crane workers, the tourists, the teams of teams of the teams?

Don't tell the Japanese tourists

MickG said:

Honestly, G, I think you have a point. There was a black bear in CA that kept swimmin in this couple's pool and then goin back into the forest. The fell in love with him, videotaped his little romps and named him and shit. One day, he seemed less energetic, so they called animal control with care to say "He's not dangerous, he's just sick. Help him." Turns out the bear ate a trash bag and was dyin from it. The environmentalists held drives and all kinda shit to raise money for this bear.

Same time, this is CA. There are possibly thousands of families a few miles away living below the poverty line and these rich upper crust types rally around a damn bear. What about helpin humans for once? Mick G, I hear you, homes.

I have seen shows where someone videotaped cases of whales beaching themselves after ships & submarines used their SONAR. Like they are just trying to get away from the horrible noise.

For animals that communicate & navigate using sounds, those noises could be confusing, not to mention damaging. Just because something doesn't damage humans (Of course, humans don't care much if they damage themselves or anything else) doesn't mean its safe for everything. Humans are very shortsighted.

And Mick G, even if you are right and humans are more important than whales, nobody wants a dead whale rotting up the middle of London! But you do have a point. Moreover, if people can't care for each other, the animals don't stand much chance.

MIGUELGOMEZ said:

TheSmyrk said:

it's a myth

rest of article

So 9s, what was it like swimming up the Thames? Cold I bet.

MickG said:

I felt sorry when I heard that once, a Londoner was found wandering in central Wales.