A minke whale was found washed up underneath London‘s Battersea Bridge in what is the third beaching at the Thames within two months.
The carcass was found underneath the bridge yesterday evening by a Port of London Authority (PLA) patrol boat.
It it thought to be a minke whale after authorities received a ‘handful of reports’ about the creature but its cause of death is yet to be determined.
A minke whale was found washed up underneath London’s Battersea Bridge in what is the third beaching at the Thames within two months
The carcass was found underneath the bridge yesterday evening by a Port of London Authority (PLA) patrol boat
Martin Garside, a spokesman for the PLA, said: ‘The first time we managed to get a clear sighting sadly it was already dead at Battersea.’
He estimated that the whale measured around 26ft (eight metres) long.
The PLA has now begun the process of moving the whale to one of its facilities in east London.
A specialist stranding team at ZSL London Zoo will then carry out a post-mortem to establish a cause of death.
The beaching is thought to be the third in the Thames within the past two months.
Both a humpback whale and an endangered sei whale were found on two separate occasions in October.
The PLA has now begun the process of moving the whale to one of its facilities in east London where a specialist stranding team will carry out a post-mortem
The beaching is thought to be the third in the Thames within the past two months after a humpback whale and an endangered sei whale were both found in October
Minke whales can weigh up to 10 tonnes and can reach a maximum speed of around 40km per hour.
The species can live up to 40 years on average and are occasionally spotted in British waters as they prefer cooler regions to more tropical areas.
They can also be found in the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian and Arctic Oceans.
