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Beluga whale spotted again in Thames amid concerns for its safety Beluga whale remains in Thames amid concerns for its safety
(about 2 hours later)
Fresh sightings of a beluga whale in the Thames have been confirmed, amid growing concern about its safety. Experts are monitoring a beluga whale in the Thames estuary for a second day as fears grow for its safety.
Unconfirmed footage of the whale was posted just after 9.30am on Wednesday. The RSPCA cast doubt on the first report, saying it was impossible to identify the creature from the video. But later its acting chief inspector, Clare Dew, who is at the scene, confirmed subsequent sightings. “The beluga is back and we are monitoring the situation,” a spokeswoman said. The whale’s movements are being monitored by experts on a Port of London Authority patrol boat moored to a barge east of Gravesend.
BELUGA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! @beardybirder pic.twitter.com/X3mjXhE0Fk Speaking to the Guardian from the boat, the authority’s spokesman Martin Garside, said: “I can see it now. It’s a beautiful animal – a ghostly looking thing. It is popping up every few minutes for a few seconds, more or less in exactly the same place as yesterday.”
Dave Andrews, the ecologist who first filmed the whale on Tuesday, said the beluga appeared to be feeding near barges off Gravesend. He urged boat owners and television crews to stay away. The beluga was first spotted in the estuary on Tuesday, 25 miles east of London and 1,500 miles from its normal habitat in the Arctic. It is believed to have veered off course in search of food.
Garside said: “It is diving as if it is looking for food. We are reviewing options. The species could theoretically live off the stuff in the Thames estuary.”
Hundreds of onlookers have lined the banks of the Thames east of Gravesend hoping for a glimpse of the whale. But boat owners are being urged to keep away.
Garside said: “There was another boat in the area which we asked to leave. It was private citizen who wanted to take some photos. We have turned our engines off and we are tied up to one of the barges, so our footprint as far as the whale is concerned is minute.”
Sally Hamilton, director of the whale and dolphin charity Orca, said it was worrying that the beluga was still lingering in the area. She said: “The key is to ensure that the whale isn’t disturbed and carries on feeding. It needs to consume 2% of its body weight [each day] so as long as it carries on feeding we are hopeful it would make its own way out of the Thames.”
Rob Deaville, who is from London’s Institute of Zoology and responsible for investigating all whale strandings in the UK, said it was too early to try to rescue the beluga.
He said: “We really can’t intervene at this stage. There is not much you can do in an estuarine environment. There are some things we might begin to look at downstream involving herding, but that carries a risk of stranding too, so it is really not something we should be considering at this stage.”
Deaville, who is contracted by the government to conduct post-mortems on all stranded whales in the UK, said it was very uncommon for belugas to get stranded on the British coast.
He said: “The last beluga whale stranding we had in the UK was in 2014 with a very decomposed animal in Scotland. And prior to that the last one in the UK was in 1932, so strandings of belugas are really rare.”
Deaville pointed out that belugas are often found feeding in estuaries, but not this far south. He said: “As a species, they can cope quite happily in estuarine environments.
“But it is in a busy shipping lane and there lots of media helicopters overflying it at the moment. We are trying to discourage that and leave it to its own devices. The down draft from helicopters can also cause risks of stranding.”
He added: “We don’t know if it’s lost. I understand the speculation that it might be linked to changes in the Arctic area, but one animal does not make a trend. If we see many more animals out of habitat then that might be more cause for concern about a wider issue. But we can’t say that yet.”
Samantha Lipman, from British Divers Marine Life Rescue, a charity that specialises in saving marine animals in distress around the UK, also urged the media and the public to keep a safe distance.Samantha Lipman, from British Divers Marine Life Rescue, a charity that specialises in saving marine animals in distress around the UK, also urged the media and the public to keep a safe distance.
Lipman, the charity’s Thames area coordinator on standby near the scene, said: “It is illegal to disturb or harass any whale, dolphin or porpoise in British waters. It is the same with helicopters that have been going overhead. Noise from above and the wind movement from propellers is going to affect them and could start herding the animal in a direction we don’t want it to go in.”Lipman, the charity’s Thames area coordinator on standby near the scene, said: “It is illegal to disturb or harass any whale, dolphin or porpoise in British waters. It is the same with helicopters that have been going overhead. Noise from above and the wind movement from propellers is going to affect them and could start herding the animal in a direction we don’t want it to go in.”
She expressed concern that the beluga could go further upriver towards central London. “The further up you go, the busier the river is,” she said. “A sighting will attract more traffic so we are really urging people to watch from shore if it is around.”She expressed concern that the beluga could go further upriver towards central London. “The further up you go, the busier the river is,” she said. “A sighting will attract more traffic so we are really urging people to watch from shore if it is around.”
The #Thames #BELUGA is back feeding in its favoured spot around the barges on the Kent side. Please all boats including @LondonPortAuth keep clear and let it alone. @SkyNews @BBCBreaking @ITVnewsdesk
The charity will consider trying to rescue the whale only if it appears to be in distress. Lipman said: “We can try to herd the animal out to sea with boats or helicopters but that is quite an extreme and risky measure and we don’t want to do more harm than good.”
For now, the charity plans to continue to monitor the whale. “It has been seen swimming strongly, so while it is free swimming and seemingly in that stronger position, it is a case of monitoring it, because logistically it would be very difficult to scoop an animal out of the water. It would cause it a lot of stress,” Lipman said.
“If it were to deteriorate and look as if it was in trouble, or it did actually strand, then we have got a team of medics and volunteers ready to intervene if necessary.”“If it were to deteriorate and look as if it was in trouble, or it did actually strand, then we have got a team of medics and volunteers ready to intervene if necessary.”
#Belugawhale to right of yellow bouy#Belugawhale to right of yellow bouy
A post shared by Dan Maclaren (@mac2003laren) on Sep 26, 2018 at 3:34am PDTA post shared by Dan Maclaren (@mac2003laren) on Sep 26, 2018 at 3:34am PDT
She added: “There is a risk that the animal is unwell or something has caused it to to come inland up the Thames. It could just be a navigation error or some underlying condition. The longer it is here the more likely it will be classed to be a solitary animal and there are all sorts of problems with solitary animals. One of the biggest problems is humans trying to approach it.”
The Environment Agency said it was not planning to close the Thames barrier to prevent the beluga from swimming further upriver.The Environment Agency said it was not planning to close the Thames barrier to prevent the beluga from swimming further upriver.
Martin Garside, a spokesman for the Port of London Authority, also played down the prospect of closing the barrier. “That would be a huge decision to take and a desperate last resort. And it would only stop it moving from one part of Woolwich to another part of Woolwich. It would be in a right old pickle if it ends up there,” he said. Garside, also played down the prospect of closing the barrier. “That would be a huge decision to take and a desperate last resort. And it would only stop it moving from one part of Woolwich to another part of Woolwich. It would be in a right old pickle if it ends up there,” he said.
No. We're only allowed to operate the Barrier for flood defence purposes or for testing, as set out in the Act. As far as I'm aware it's not heading our way?No. We're only allowed to operate the Barrier for flood defence purposes or for testing, as set out in the Act. As far as I'm aware it's not heading our way?
Garside was on a patrol boat monitoring the whale on Tuesday. He said: “It surfaced right next to us. It’s beautiful, almost white in colour; it’s sort of ghostly in a good way. We backed off when we realised how close we were and cut our engines. We saw it for about an hour between 3pm and 4pm.”
He was also on duty in 2006 when a whale died after swimming much further up the Thames. “We are asking asking people not to go out in small boats looking for it. That was respected brilliantly yesterday. We were the only boat on the river. In 2006 there was a fair amount of freelance whale hunting and that is intrusive. If you got little boats whizzing around that is fairly intrusive for a whale,” Garside said.
“Let’s hope it swims out, but I’ve got a bit of bad feeling about this if I’m honest because it is so badly placed.”
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Marine lifeMarine life
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