Lost whale 'seen heading for sea'

[brigadier Biggles]

A possible sighting of a whale in the River Thames near Greenwich has given fresh hope that it may soon reach the sea and ultimately safety.

Fears had been growing for the 16-18ft (5m) northern bottle-nosed whale which came as far upstream as Chelsea.

But now rescuers searching the east London stretch of river hope the sighting was accurate and it will continue to swim downstream.

Experts feared the animal could put itself in danger by becoming beached.

Tony Woodley, of the British Divers Marine Life Rescue Group, said it was spotted by a member of public at around 2045 GMT in Greenwich.

rest here - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4633376.stm

[Felix the Cat]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/06/europe_enl_1137768745/img/1.jpg

[Fade the Butcher]

It died, right?

[Felix the Cat]

Dead whale examined by experts (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4636278.stm)

An attempt to transport the 18ft (5m) northern bottle-nosed whale back to deeper water in the Thames Estuary ended on Saturday with its death.

Thousands of onlookers lined the river to watch as the mammal was put on a special pontoon at Battersea Bridge and then onto a barge.

It finally died from natural causes at 1900 GMT after suffering convulsions.

Tony Woodley, of the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR), said hopes the whale would survive initially rose after it was lifted onto the barge, but it quickly became clear its survival was in doubt.

'Absolutely terrified'

"It is such a shame, and I know that so many people in the UK and around the world have been watching this," he said.

The whale was being taken to Shivering Sands off the north Kent coast, where rescuers had hoped to release it back into the sea.

This plan had already been scaled down from an earlier one to transfer it to an "ocean-going vessel" and take it to deep water off the south coast.

[brigadier Biggles]

oh the irony in a great giant slowly dying right in the middle of London :D.

[brigadier Biggles]

http://i1.tinypic.com/msm3xx.jpg

[Felix the Cat]

"that Moss cow", hehe

[Fade the Butcher]

More entertaining that the disappearance of Natalie Holloway or, even worse, the 'runaway bride'.

[Ixtab]

Not BBC-style writing.

[Ahknaton]

HAHAHA!

There have been some good Beeb parody/hoax sites around lately. Did anyone see the one with the fake story about zombies attacking a village in Cambodia? I'll see if I can find it...

Edit: Here it is: http://bbc.co.uk/south_asia/4483241.stm.htm (http://65.127.124.62/south_asia/4483241.stm.htm)

[Banat]

"Whale spotted in whale ZOO?" :eek: Wow, that's what I call a news...

;)