Vets euthanize minke whale lost in London's River Thames

A minke calf whale that lost her way in London's River Thames was euthanized on Monday, despite efforts of rescuers from several groups.

"It's suffering quite badly, it has been for about the last 45 minutes," said Julia Cable, national co-ordinator for the British Divers Marine Life Rescue. "We're just trying to ease any suffering."

The London Fire Brigade had attempted to free the roughly 4.5 meter (15 feet) long whale the previous night.

Unfortunately, the whale could not find her way out to open waters again, even with the help of rescue workers.

A Port of London Authority spokesman said a whale had never traveled so far up the river, traveling 95 miles (150 kilometers) along the river's mouth to a dropping tide near Teddington in southwest London.

"It's like seeing a camel at the North Pole," said spokesman Martin Garside.

Small chance for survival

It would be very difficult for the whale to survive much longer in the river, as nutrition sources in the river are scarce for the creature, whose natural habitat is the northern North Sea. It was unclear why the whale swam into the Thames.

"This whale could have become lost whilst following prey, or could be ill or injured," Danny Groves of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation told Reuters. "Equally, many whales and dolphins get into difficulty because they may have been struck by a vessel at sea, injured in fishing nets, driven off course by loud underwater noise from seismic surveys for oil or gas, or loud underwater sonar from military exercises."

The small size of the whale suggested it was still maternally or socially dependent and unable to live on its own.

"It's nutritionally in a poor state. Either it's been separated from its mum too early, or something's happened…it's run out of energy," said national coordinator for the BDMLR Julia Cable.

kbd/aw (AP, Reuters)