The whale is being rescued, boarded onto a barge now by marine animal rescue experts. They've taken blood tests and will assess its viability before they make a decision to release it. They do know it's an adolescent, who probably got separated from his pod. Sightings of other bottle nosed whales have been reported off the coast of Essex. One is probably an anxious mother, wondering where her teenager got off to.
I can relate.
It's heartwarming to see so many humans drop what they're doing and try to rescue one wayward whale. However, at the same time whales are being hunted near Japan. And of course millions of cows and other farm animals are brutally slaughtered every year. If it were a cow in the Thames, would we all be rooting for its survival?
Ah, well, one whale at a time.
UPDATE: It's not looking good. They wanted to release the whale at Whitstable, near open sea, but the whale's conditions have worsened. Not sure they can make it. Poor baby.
UPDATE II: 7:09 p.m. The whale has died.
