Marine conservationists fear for the survival of the 6m-long northern bottle-nosed whale that entered the River Thames and swam upstream to the Houses of Parliament today. Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) crews and marine veterinarians have been monitoring the juvenile whale since Friday morning.

'We're currently trying to turn it back from Battersea towards the estuary,' Glen Monroe, helmsman at Chiswick RNLI, told DIVE. 'We have no idea why it has travelled this far up river.'

Liz Sandeman, director of operations at Marine Connection, joined RNLI crews to examine the whale but said she did not believe the mammal would survive.

'I'm not feeling hopeful for the animal because it has been in the river for a few days,' Sandeman told DIVE. 'Upstream the river gets narrower and shallower. We have a marine vet at the scene and I'm in contact with the British Marine Life Rescue team there. We definitely need to keep stress levels down and boat traffic away.'

Sandeman said it was unclear why the whale had entered the Thames.

'We don't see these animals off the UK very often, so to have a bottle-nosed whale in the River Thames is extremely unusual,' she added. 'There is another whale at Southend-on-Sea, which in my opinion is connected.'

The British Divers Marine Life first received reports about two whales swimming in the river on Thursday, but the group only found one and assumed it had passed the Thames Barrier. However, a member of the public spotted the whale on Friday morning and the RNLI was alerted.

It is the first time the species has been seen in the Thames since records began in 1913. According to Marine Connection, the last sighting of the species in the UK was recorded off Scotland two years ago.

The northern bottle-nosed whale usually feeds in deep water and dives to depths of up to 3,000m. It is rarely found in water less than 800m-deep.

More to follow…