Beluga whale spotted again in River Thames near Gravesend
There are fears that the whale is lost, as the species is usually found in the Arctic, but rescue teams are on standby to help.
Wednesday 26 September 2018 15:29, UK
The beluga whale spotted in the River Thames on Tuesday has been sighted again near Gravesend.
Ecologist Dave Andrews first shared a video of the mammal on social media yesterday, after he saw it in the river off Coalhouse Fort, Essex.
Just after 9.30am today, Sky's Enda Brady spotted the whale again, writing on Twitter that it had "just surfaced on the Gravesend side of the estuary".
It appears to have moved a few miles further west since yesterday.
It is not clear how the whale, usually found in the Arctic, came to be in the River Thames.
One theory is that it followed a shoal of fish while seeking food.
Experts have said the animal may be lost and in danger, and rescue teams are on standby.
Danny Groves, from the WDC (Whale and Dolphin Conservation) charity, said: "This is a High Arctic species thousands of miles from where it should be in Greenland, Svalbard or the Barents Sea. They are usually associated close to the ice.
"He or she is obviously very lost and quite possibly in trouble."
Rod Downie, polar chief adviser at WWF, said: "Beluga whales are a species of the icy Arctic - finding one in the tepid Thames is an astonishingly rare event."
A spokeswoman for British Divers Marine Life Rescue said whale rescue pontoons are prepared to re-float the whale if it gets stranded.
She said the beluga's visit to the Thames is a "very rare occurrence", and urged people to watch the whale from the shore, rather than going out in boats to see it.
It is rare for a beluga whale to be seen alone, as they usually form groups of around 10. During the summer months, they can gather in their hundreds or even thousands.
The worldwide population is thought to be about 150,000.
It is not the first time a beluga has been spotted in UK waters, however: in 2015, two were spotted off the Northumberland coast and one off Northern Ireland.
In 2006, a northern bottle-nosed whale up to 18ft long (5m) became stranded in the Thames for two days. She died after suffering convulsions as she was being rescued.