BRITAIN: Marine rescuers were locked in a battle against time and tide last night in their effort to save a whale stranded in the River Thames in central London.
Londoners were transfixed at the first sightings of the 16-18ft northern bottle-nosed whale as it travelled some 40 miles upstream past the Houses of Parliament.
In the first excitement hundreds of people lined both sides of the river to catch a glimpse of the seven-tonne whale as it blew spouts of water 20 feet in the air. Of the first such sighting of a whale in the centre of the capital since records began in 1913, Tom Howard-Vyne, of the London Eye, said: "We stood open-jawed watching it as it headed up the river. I know the London aquarium is next door but you do not expect to see a whale on your doorstep. It was magnificent."
However the excitement quickly gave way to concern, then fear as it became clear that the whale was disorientated and that its sonar system might have failed it.
Northern bottle-nosed whales are normally seen in the north Atlantic off Norway and the Barents Sea and off northern Britain and Ireland in the summer.
The species can grow to 10 metres in length and is described by experts as "inquisitive", sometimes approaching boats in the north Atlantic.
Laila Sadler, scientific officer at the RSPCA, warned the outlook for this whale was poor unless a co-ordinated approach was taken.
She said boat noise could create "a wall of sound" that would confuse the whale.
She added: "The more boats around, particularly if they are not co-ordinated, the more hazardous for the whale."
Yesterday evening specialist equipment was used to try to redirect the whale downstream but as darkness fell experts feared it could become beached after tide changes.
At the same time experts warned that the whale might in fact be sick and searching for a place to die.
Alan Knight of the British Divers Marine Life Rescue group said: "If it actually goes ashore and strands we can get out of the boats and have a look."
If the whale appeared thin it might be coming in to die, he said, in which case they would euthanise it and consider it a "success" by preventing further suffering.
If the whale was assessed to be in good condition, the rescue team would attempt to refloat it using pontoons.