Second whale found dead in the Thames in one month

Early indications suggest 32ft-long animal is rare fin whale

Phoebe Weston
Saturday 19 October 2019 18:48 BST
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Scientists are carrying out a post-mortem to find out why the whale died, although the two incidents are not believed to be linked
Scientists are carrying out a post-mortem to find out why the whale died, although the two incidents are not believed to be linked

A dead whale has been found in the river Thames less than two weeks after a humpback whale nicknamed Hessy died in the same stretch of water.

The whale was found near Town Pier in Gravesend at 9am on Friday morning and early indications suggest the 32ft-long animal is a rare fin whale.

The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is carrying out a post-morten to find out why it died, although the two incidents are not believed to be linked.

Martin Garside, of the Port of London Authority (PLA), said they had organised a boat to tow the whale to a nearby facility where its demise would be studied.

He said: “We managed to put a line around it to secure it and then towed it to one of our facilities to the east of Gravesend. There had been no live sightings of this whale so the first time anyone was aware was when it was found dead.

“It may have been dead for some days. It was lifted out of the water and passed to ZSL who will carry out a post mortem over the weekend.”

Mr Garside says the species and gender is yet to be confirmed but believes it could be a fin whale. He added that it was “curious” to get two deaths so close together but said there was no obvious cause of death.

Previously listed as endangered, fin whale numbers have roughly doubled since the 1970s when an international ban on commercial whaling was introduced. The population now stands at 100,000 mature individuals and they are the second largest mammal in the world after blue whales.

They are generally found off the Gulf of California, the Coral Triangle and the Arctic.

The discovery comes just 10 days after a humpback whale died after swimming into the Thames.

It was spotted surfacing in the river but was then found dead near Greenhithe, Kent, not long after.

The Zoological Society of London confirmed that young female – nicknamed Hessy – had been hit by a ship.

Humpback whales are rarely stranded around the UK coast, with just one or two incidents recorded on average each year. However, Hessy was the fifth humpback to be recorded stranded in the UK so far this year.

Two others recorded in the Thames and wider Thames estuary region in 2009 and 2013 both died.

Last year, Benny the Beluga whale caught the public’s attention after he was seen feeding in the Thames. It is thought he finally left the area.

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