Animal welfare groups highlight whale plight

Animal welfare groups are attempting to raise awareness of the plight of whales, following the death of a bottle-nose whale in the Thames at the weekend.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare called for the "outpouring of emotion" over the death of the northern bottle-nose whale to be directed towards other whales.

An IFAW spokesperson said: "Whales around the world face deadly threats - from whaling by Japan, Norway and Iceland, pollution and habitat destruction and increased noise in the ocean.

"We hope the whales which visited the UK Houses of Parliament can act as ambassador for all whales and that its death won't be in vain."

The bottle-nose whale made headlines around the world after it was spotted on Friday morning, swimming up the Thames. Hundreds of people gathered to watch the sight - it was the first time such an animal had been spotted in the Thames since records began in 1913.

However, it soon became apparent that the whale was in distress and a rescue operation was launched. The whale died on Saturday evening, after it had been successfully lifted onto a barge to be transported back to deeper waters.

A post-mortem is being carried out to determine how the whale, which was confirmed as an adolescent female, died and why it ended up in the Thames. However, the results are not expected to be released until Wednesday.

Northern bottle-nose whales are usually found in deep-sea waters and are usually spotted in the north Atlantic off Norway and the Barents Sea and off northern Britain and Ireland during the summer.

It is thought that the whale may have been sick or injured - the animals tend to seek out shallow water in which to die if this is the case.

It is also feared that ocean noise, from ships, underwater drilling or military sonar could have disorientated the whale.

Tony Woodley, director of the British Divers Marine Life Rescue Group, which co-ordinated the rescue operation, said: "It is generally accepted that the animal was lost, being away from its normal environment of the deep Atlantic, but until the post-mortem is completed we can't tell if it had major internal problems or not.

"We believe that if the whale had been left how it was, it would have slowly died and we don't think that option was acceptable."

It is unclear what will happen to the whale's body. According to reports, it may be buried at a landfill site or incinerated.

(KMcA/SP)