Wikinews has news coverage related to this subject: The River Thames Whale was a juvenile female Northern Bottlenose whale which was discovered swimming in the River Thames in central London on Friday 20 January 2006. According to the BBC, it was five metres long and weighed about seven tonnes. The whale appeared to have become lost, as its normal habitat would have been around the coasts of the far north of Scotland and Ireland, and in the seas around the Arctic Ocean. It was the first time the species had been seen in the Thames since records began in 1913. It died after suffering from convulsions as it was being rescued shortly after 19:00 GMT on 21 January 2006. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2143x894, 472 KB) Summary London whale sighting on Thames. ...
Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2143x894, 472 KB) Summary London whale sighting on Thames. ...
The Battersea Bridge with crowds along it watching the River Thames whale Battersea Bridge looking downstream from Chelsea. ...
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The Thames (pronounced //) is a river flowing through southern England, in its lower reaches flowing through London into the sea. ...
Central London is a much-used but unofficial and vaguely defined term for the most inner part of London, the capital of England. ...
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For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...
The British Broadcasting Corporation, usually known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GB£4 billion...
Motto: (Latin) No one provokes me with impunity(English) Wha daur meddle wi me? (Scots)[1] Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official languages English, Gaelic, Scots[2] Government - Queen Queen Elizabeth II - Prime Minister Tony Blair MP - First Minister Jack McConnell MSP Unification - by Kenneth I...
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History
On Thursday 19 January reports from the Thames Barrier control team were made to the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) that one, or possibly two, pilot whales had come through the barrier. This turned out to be the Bottlenose whale, and BDMLR commenced monitoring the whale that evening. January 19 is the 19th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
The Thames Barrier is a flood control structure on the River Thames at Woolwich Reach in London. ...
British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) is a British charity established in 1988 to train for, and respond to marine animals in distress in British waters and on coasts. ...
Binomial name Globicephala macrorhynchus Gray, 1846 Short-finned Pilot Whale range Globicephala melas Traill, 1809 Long-finned Pilot Whale range Calderón redirects here. ...
At 08:30 a.m on Friday 20 January, a man on a train phoned the authorities to say that he believed he had been hallucinating, as he thought he had just spotted a whale swimming in the River Thames. Throughout the morning, more and more whale sightings were reported, confirmed when TV cameras captured the Bottlenose whale on tape. Filled with excitement, many Londoners came to see this amazing sight. January 20 is the 20th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1536x1152, 314 KB) Summary The Thames Whale just as rescuers begin to try to save him. ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1536x1152, 314 KB) Summary The Thames Whale just as rescuers begin to try to save him. ...
January 20 is the 20th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
A typical North American steam train In rail transport, a train consists of rail vehicles that move along guides to transport freight or passengers from one place to another. ...
A hallucination is a false sensory perception in the absence of an external stimulus, as distinct from an illusion, which is a misperception of an external stimulus. ...
A Fin whale The term whale is ambiguous: it can refer to all cetaceans, to just the larger ones, or only to members of particular families within the order Cetacea. ...
See TV (disambiguation) for other uses and Television (band) for the rock band European networks National In much of Europe television broadcasting has historically been state dominated, rather than commercially organised, although commercial stations have grown in number recently. ...
A Londoner is someone who inhabits or originates from London. ...
The whale beached several times during the day as the tide went out. Members of the public went onto the foreshore to encourage the whale back into deeper water. Concern began to grow for the animal; Bottlenose whales are used to swimming in seas up to 700 metres deep, but the Thames has a depth of only 5 metres at most. Blood was also visible - possibly due to a collision between the whale and a boat. The foreshore, also called the intertidal or littoral zone, is that part of a beach that lies between average high tide and average low tide. ...
As night approached, there were signs that the whale may have been swimming with the current out of London towards the sea: an unconfirmed sighting by a BBC cameraman at 9:00 p.m. placed the whale in Greenwich. The area was searched but nothing was found. There were no further official sightings until 1:10 a.m. the following morning in Battersea, after the tide had changed. The whale was monitored until 3:30 a.m, when Jamie Henn, a Marine Mammal Medic working for BDMLR finally called the monitoring off as the whale would not strand at high tide. Greenwich (pronounced grenn-itch or by some grinn-itch ) is a town, now part of the south eastern urban sprawl of London, on the south bank of the River Thames in the London Borough of Greenwich. ...
Battersea is a place in the London Borough of Wandsworth. ...
It has been suggested that Earth tides be merged into this article or section. ...
 Rescuers attempt to calm the whale whilst placing the yellow undersheet underneath the whale. John Hyde, January 21, 2006 12.15 p.m. At 7:30 a.m the next morning BDMLR members, along with Port Authority officials, started observing the whale again. It was decided that the BDMLR would have to assist the whale as it was not strong enough to swim out of the Thames by itself, and had been losing ground against the tide. January 21 is the 21st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (959x451, 71 KB) Summary rescuers attempt to calm the whale whilst placing the yellow undersheet underneath the whale. ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (959x451, 71 KB) Summary rescuers attempt to calm the whale whilst placing the yellow undersheet underneath the whale. ...
January 21 is the 21st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...
There was fear later in the day that the whale could have perished, as it had not been seen for some time; however, it was spotted by a Port Authority boat at 9:25 a.m near Albert Bridge. The BDMLR decided it was time to act. With significant help from the Port of London Authority and the Metropolitan Police BDMLR medics decided to deliberately beach the whale at low tide on a sandbank, and then move it out of the Thames. At midday they captured the whale, covered its eyes to prevent it from panicking, and made a medical examination. Albert Bridge - note the central supports at the mid-point of the span, installed in the 1970s to ease the suspension load. ...
The Port of London lies along the banks of the River Thames in London, England. ...
The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) is the Home Office police force responsible for Greater London, with the exception of the square mile of the City of London. ...
After two hours, the whale was slowly and gently lifted onto a barge by a crane near Albert Bridge. By this stage there were thousands of people watching the situation develop from the banks of the river, and the images were seen across the world. The excitement of the previous day had disappeared, and there was now serious concern that the whale would be unable to survive for much longer. As the barge rushed along the Thames towards the sea, news channels provided non-stop coverage of the journey. It reached the Thames Barrier at approximately 5:00 p.m. Later, despite the darkness, it was reported that crowds were lining the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge to catch a glimpse of the barge. Self propelled barge carrying bulk crushed stone A barge is a flat-bottomed boat, built mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods. ...
Albert Bridge may be referring to: the Albert Bridge, a road bridge across the River Thames in London, England the Albert Bridge, a road bridge across the River Thames in Datchet, Berkshire, England the Royal Albert Bridge, a railway bridge across the River Tamar between Devon and Cornwall in England. ...
The Queen Elizabeth II Bridge (A282) was built at Dartford to expand the Thames river crossing capacity between sections of the M25 motorway. ...
As each hour passed, there was growing concern for the whale's health, and it was said to be taking a turn for the worse due to being out of the water, as well as it slowly being crushed by its own body weight. Plans to release the whale into the Atlantic ocean were shelved (the rescue team having previously put out a public appeal for a suitable boat); instead it was to be released off the Kent coast near Margate at Shivering Sands. All this time, the BDMLR were saying the final decision would be taken by a vet on board, who would decide whether to release or euthanize the whale. Later the mammal was described as being "distressed", breathing heavily and developing muscle problems. At 7:08 p.m on 21 January it was confirmed the whale had died after suffering from convulsions. The Atlantic Ocean is Earths second-largest ocean, covering approximately one_fifth of its surface. ...
This article is about the county in England. ...
Statistics Population: 58,465 (2001 census) Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: TR355705 Administration District: Thanet Shire county: Kent Region: South East England Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: Kent Historic county: Kent Services Police force: {{{Police}}} Fire and rescue: {{{Fire}}} Ambulance: South East Coast Post office...
January 21 is the 21st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Post mortem Veterinarian Paul Jepson carried out an immediate post mortem on the whale on behalf of the Zoological Society of London. The whale's body had several gashes along its underbelly, head and dorsal fin, most likely caused by collisions with boats and rubbing against the rocky river bed. It was confirmed that the whale was a female, and many of her vital organs were removed and her head was severed from the body and put into storage. The results, announced on January 25, 2006, showed that she had died from a combination of problems including dehydration, muscle damage and failing kidneys. It also found that she was about eleven years old. An autopsy (also known as a post-mortem examination, necropsy or obduction) is a medical procedure that consists of a thorough examination performed on a corpse after death, to evaluate disease or injury that may be present and to determine the cause and manner of a persons death. ...
The Zoological Society of London (sometimes known by the abbreviation ZSL) is a learned society founded in April 1826 by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, Lord Auckland, Sir Humphry Davy, Joseph Sabine, Nicholas Aylward Vigors and other eminent naturalists. ...
January 25 is the 25th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...
A later study by Richard Sabin of the Natural History Museum found that the whale had pitting in her Atlas vertebra, suggesting that she had been suffering from a form of arthritis.[1] For other similarly-named museums see Museum of Natural History. ...
In anatomy, the atlas (C1) is the topmost (first) cervical vertebra of the spine. ...
Arthritis (from Greek arthro-, joint + -itis, inflammation; plural: arthritides) is a group of conditions where there is damage caused to the joints of the body. ...
Reasons for entry
 Crowds watching the rescue operation The reasons for the whale's presence in the Thames were unclear. A number of possible causes were raised prior to the post mortem: Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1024x768, 242 KB) Summary Crowds watching the whale in the Thames Shermozle 14:09, 21 January 2006 (UTC) Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: User:Shermozle River Thames whale Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added...
Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1024x768, 242 KB) Summary Crowds watching the whale in the Thames Shermozle 14:09, 21 January 2006 (UTC) Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: User:Shermozle River Thames whale Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added...
- Illness. Some previous whale strandings are believed to have been caused by physical ill-health, resulting from factors such as parasite infections or pollution, which can disorient whales and cause them to strand themselves in shallow water.
- Noise pollution. There have been a number of incidents in which military sonar systems have caused hearing damage to marine mammals.[2] It was suggested that Royal Navy sonar testing may have been a factor; however, the post mortem revealed no damage to the whale's auditory functions.
- A food hunt. It was suggested that the whale may have been chasing a shoal of fish up the Thames. However, the principal food source for the northern bottlenose whale is squid, not fish, as some believe.
- A navigational error. According to the scientists who conducted the post mortem, the most likely explanation for the incident was simply that the whale was seeking to return to its normal feeding grounds in the North Atlantic and took a wrong turning, mistakenly swimming west up the Thames rather than taking the longer route around the coast.
A parasite is an organism that spends a significant portion of its life in or on the living tissue of a host organism and which causes harm to the host without immediately killing it. ...
The F70 type frigates (here, La Motte-Picquet) are fitted with VDS (Variable Depth Sonar) type DUBV43 or DUBV43C towed sonars SONAR (SOund Navigation And Ranging) — or sonar — is a technique that uses sound propagation under water (primarily) to navigate, communicate or to detect other vessels. ...
A Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), a member of Order Cetacea A Leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx), a member of infrafamily Pinnipedia A West Indian Manatee (Trichechus manatus), a member of Order Sirenia A marine mammal is a mammal that is primarily ocean-dwelling or depends on the ocean for its food. ...
The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore the Senior Service). ...
Suborders Myopsina Oegopsina Squid are a large, diverse group of marine cephalopods. ...
Resting place It was initially thought that the whale's body might be buried in a landfill, or incinerated if it presented a health hazard. After a campaign by The Sun newspaper to raise the £10,000 necessary for the recovery of the whale's skeleton, it was announced on 23 January that the bones of the mammal were to be given to the Natural History Museum with the intention that they be put on public display. However the skeleton has been put into the museum's research collection and is not on display to the public. Due to the rarity of the species, it will be the first complete Northern Bottlenose Whale skeleton to enter the UK's national collection of animal skeletons. This article is about a British tabloid. ...
January 23 is the 23rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
For other similarly-named museums see Museum of Natural History. ...
The skeleton will be put on public display at the end of January at the Guardian and Observer Archive and Visitor Centre.[3]
Other whales Throughout the two days that the whale was in the Thames waters, there were unconfirmed sightings of a second whale near the Thames Barrier and in Southend-on-Sea. On 21 January, whale song was reported around the Thames Estuary. The body of a small marine mammal - later confirmed as a porpoise - was discovered upstream at Putney the same day. There is no indication that this incident had any connection with that of the Thames whale. There had been reports of a Harbour Porpoise in the Thames near Chiswick/Kew on the Tuesday and Wednesday prior to the Thames Whale. BDMLR Medics did several watches but to no avail, the body of this porpoise washed up near by on the same day as the Whale rescue. The Thames Barrier is a flood control structure on the River Thames at Woolwich Reach in London. ...
Southend-on-Sea is a resort town in Essex, England. ...
January 21 is the 21st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
The Thames Estuary is a large estuary where the River Thames flows into the North Sea. ...
A Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), a member of Order Cetacea A Leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx), a member of infrafamily Pinnipedia A West Indian Manatee (Trichechus manatus), a member of Order Sirenia A marine mammal is a mammal that is primarily ocean-dwelling or depends on the ocean for its food. ...
Genera Neophocaena Phocoena - Harbor porpoises Phocoenoides - Dalls Porpoises The porpoises are small cetaceans of the family Phocoenidae; they are related to whales and dolphins. ...
Putney is a district of south-west London in the London Borough of Wandsworth. ...
Binomial name Phocoena phocoena Linnaeus, 1758 Harbour Porpoise range The Harbour Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) is one of six species of porpoise, and so one of about eighty cetacean species. ...
Chiswick (IPA pronunciation: ) is an extensive district of West London, located within the eastern extremity of the London Borough of Hounslow and 5. ...
Kew is a place in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in South West London. ...
In early February, a Sperm Whale stranded itself in the Humber Estuary and died shortly afterwards; the amount of media coverage it received was much less than that devoted to the Thames Whale. Binomial name Physeter macrocephalus Linnaeus, 1758 Sperm Whale range (in blue) The Sperm Whale (Physeter macrocephalus) is the largest of all toothed whales and is the largest toothed animal alive, measuring up to 18 metres (60 ft) long, as well as being the largest known predator ever to exist, apart...
River Hull tidal barrier. ...
15 February 2006, a young adult male Sperm Whale was washed ashore in Skegness, Lincolnshire. Paul Jepson from the Zoological Society of London performed a post mortem. February 15 is the 46th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ...
For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...
Skegness is a seaside resort town in Lincolnshire, England, with a permanent population of about 30,000. ...
Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs) is a county in the east of England. ...
Impact Many people now believe that this incident has increased the profile of whales to the public, and the opposition to the whaling industry. Many whale experts that were interviewed on Sky News believed this whale will leave a legacy, and it will have helped whales across the planet. They also took note of the fact that the Thames Whale was seen around the Palace of Westminster, the British seat of government. Sky News is a British television News channel which started as part of the four channel Sky Television network in February 1989. ...
The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, in London, England is where the two Houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (the House of Lords and the House of Commons) meet to conduct their business. ...
Nicknames Various nicknames included: - "Pete the Pilot", named after Pete Burns, since the sex of the whale was not known; the "pilot" arose from the mistaken belief that it was a pilot whale. First reported in the Evening Standard, 20 January 2006[4]
- "Prince of Whales", as it was called by The Times, referring to Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales
- "Wally", as it was called by The Sun.
- "Willy", as it was said by the Daily Mail to have been "christened". Perennial favourite whale name, as seen in the film Free Willy.[4]
- "Whaley" was the nickname according to the Daily Mirror.
- "Celebrity Big Blubber", from a headline by The Sun, a pun on the title of Celebrity Big Brother UK (featuring Pete Burns, amongst others).
- "Wilma the Whale", as called by a columnist from The Times. Elsewhere in the Times the name Billy was coined.
- "Gonzo", due to that fact it was a Bottle Nosed Whale, and "Gonzo" is a Muppet with a large nose.[5][4]
- "The London Whale"[6]
- "The Battersea Bottlenose"[4]
The majority of these names suggest that the whale was male, but it was ascertained during the post mortem that it was female. Differences between the sexes are not obvious, especially before the whale is fully-grown, and the external genitalia are normally hidden except during mating. Peter Gezzepe (some sources say Jozzeppi) Burns, (born August 5, 1959) is a British singer/songwriter and the frontman of the Hi-NRG band Dead or Alive, most famous for their number one single, You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) in 1985. ...
Binomial name Globicephala macrorhynchus Gray, 1846 Short-finned Pilot Whale range Globicephala melas Traill, 1809 Long-finned Pilot Whale range Calderón redirects here. ...
Headlines of the Evening Standard on the day of London bombing on July 7, 2005, in Waterloo Station The Evening Standard is a British tabloid newspaper published and sold in London and surrounding areas of southeast England. ...
January 20 is the 20th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...
The Times is a national newspaper published daily in the United Kingdom since 1785, and under its current name since 1788. ...
Prince Charles may refer to: Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, current heir-apparent to the British throne Any of the previous British royals named Charles, Prince of Wales The former Belgian regent, Prince Charles of Belgium This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that...
This article is about a British tabloid. ...
The Daily Mail is a British newspaper, a tabloid, first published in 1896. ...
Free Willy is a 1993 Warner Brothers film about a boy who befriends an Orca // Spoiler warning: Jesse (Jason James Richter) gets caught vandalizing the marina, but his social worker, Dwight (Mykelti Williamson), helps him avoid legal consequences, provided he cleans up his mess at the marina. ...
Alternate newspaper: The Daily Mirror (Australia) The Daily Mirror is a popular British tabloid daily newspaper. ...
// Big Brother is a reality TV show broadcast on Channel 4, and S4C in Wales, in which a number of contestants live in an isolated house trying to avoid being evicted by the public with the aim of winning a large cash prize at the end of the run. ...
John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together The Muppets are a group of puppets and costume characters created by Jim Henson and the company he created. ...
Trivia On 22 March, the BDMLR placed for auction on eBay the small red watering can used during the attempt to keep the body of the whale wet on its journey down the Thames. The can was autographed by the rescue team. Following a 10-day auction attracting 50 genuine bids a total of £2,050 was raised. The auction was marred by dozens of spoof bids, several exceeding £1 million. March 22 is the 81st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (82nd in leap years). ...
eBay headquarters in San Jose eBay North First Street satellite office campus (home to PayPal) eBay Inc. ...
- It was hypothesized by the British tabloid media that the whale was actually a top secret submarine being tested by the United States in conjunction with the United Kingdom. This scandal was dubbed 'Whalegate'.
- On 21 December 2006 Channel 4 screened The Whale That Swam To London, a 60 minute documentary about the events of January 2006.
- The Damon Albarn-led band "The Good, the Bad and the Queen" have recorded a song called "Northern Whale", to be released on their self-titled debut album (January, 2007).
- At their BBC Electric Proms concert (October 26, 2006), Albarn introduced the song by saying: This next song... started off as a love song, for someone I love. And then a whale came up the Thames... And it turned into a song about a whale. - To which, somebody yelled out from the audience: Does she know that?
Following the U.S. Watergate scandal in the 1970s, in which presidential prerogatives of the Nixon administration collided with the U.S. Constitution in a genuinely important crisis, the suffix -gate has been used to name various other scandals, some of which were distinctly minor affairs, as the following list...
December 21 is the 355th day of the year (356th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...
It has been suggested that Channel Four Television Corporation be merged into this article or section. ...
The Good, the Bad and the Queen is the debut album by an unnamed band [1] [2] [3], released on January 22, 2007 in the UK and on January 23 in the United States. ...
October 26 is the 299th day of the year (300th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 66 days remaining. ...
For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...
See also Tama Chan is the name of the flying hot springs turtle in the popular manga Love Hina by Ken Akamatsu. ...
Binomial name Erignathus barbatus Erxleben, 1777 The bearded seal (Erignathus barbatus) is a medium-sized seal that is found in and near to the Arctic Ocean. ...
This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...
References - ^ BBC News (2006), Lost Thames whale had arthritis (accessed 2006-09-04)
- ^ Why sonar may harm whales and dolphins. BBC (4 August 2006).
- ^ First display of Thames whale skeleton Natural History Museum, retrieved 12 January 2006
- ^ a b c d A Look At The Thames Whale (20 January 2006).
- ^ LEWIS PR - WHALE WATCH.
- ^ Endangered whales - get the facts (21 January 2006).
For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...
September 4 is the 247th day of the year (248th in leap years). ...
The British Broadcasting Corporation, usually known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GB£4 billion...
August 4 is the 216th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (217th in leap years), with 149 days remaining. ...
For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...
January 12 is the 12th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...
January 20 is the 20th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...
January 21 is the 21st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...
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