# Whale spotted in central London! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 20, 2006, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whale-spotted-in-central-london/340823 "2006-01-20T15:12:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whale-spotted-in-central-london/340823/41 "2006-01-21T15:11:43Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > I hope he/she survives. It must be a male. It didn’t ask for directions. I was thinking the same thing. No news is good news(?) Perhaps it lost something and is searching for it? Or it needs massive injections of Prozac… ---
**Author:** ![johncole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5f9b8f/32.png) [@johncole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johncole)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whale-spotted-in-central-london/340823/42 "2006-01-21T15:20:41Z")
Whale now on barge (on bed of foam) passing Houses of Parliament, heading downstream. Results of veterinary assessment still not known. Outcome still in doubt. ---
**Author:** ![tirial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac91a4/32.png) [@tirial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tirial)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whale-spotted-in-central-london/340823/43 "2006-01-21T15:27:10Z")
Under Charing Cross bridge - they’re moving at quite a rate. I wish the BBC commentator would stop talking about euthansia - I think its been in every other sentence he’s spoken so far. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whale-spotted-in-central-london/340823/44 "2006-01-21T16:08:21Z")
> [@johncole](#): > > Whale now on barge (on bed of foam) passing Houses of Parliament, heading downstream. > > Results of veterinary assessment still not known. > > Outcome still in doubt. That’s interesting because here on CNN they are saying the whale is not in danger of dying. Why the more upbeat assessment by U.S. media I wonder? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whale-spotted-in-central-london/340823/45 "2006-01-21T16:23:48Z")
[hijack] **Kolak** --do you have perfect 20/20/20/20 vision? 🙂 [/hijack] I do find the approaches somewhat odd, but think it’s in keeping with the natures of the two countries–(gross generalization follows): Brits want to be prepared for the worst and then be pleasantly surprised; Americans want success, period.\* \*of the 2, I prefer the Brits, but I’m wired that way myself. ---
**Author:** ![johncole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5f9b8f/32.png) [@johncole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johncole)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whale-spotted-in-central-london/340823/46 "2006-01-21T19:23:51Z")
> [@Kolak of Twilo](#): > > That’s interesting because here on CNN they are saying the whale is not in danger of dying. Why the more upbeat assessment by U.S. media I wonder? 😕 The latest reports indicate that the whale has died while enroute to a release point off Margate. I did not see that report from CNN, but I suspect they were indulging in a bit of wishful thinking based on a basic ignorance of the facts, whereas the UK media have been reporting the informed opinion of the experts who were onsite and dealing with the problem. If CNN claim to have been basing their reports on expert opinion, it seems that they were misrepresenting the case. Many organisations contributed to the rescue attempt, none more so than the members of the [British Divers Marine Life Rescue](http://www.bdmlr.org.uk/) - a charitable organisation established in 1988 with about 3000 trained volunteers around the country. Please give generously, they conduct several dozen successful rescues a year. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whale-spotted-in-central-london/340823/47 "2006-01-21T23:49:00Z")
Sad, but maybe just as well? I don’t pretend to understand suicide, man’s or beast’s, but perhaps the whale was sick and knew it? That looks like a great organization; thanks for the info. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2006, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whale-spotted-in-central-london/340823/48 "2006-01-23T16:53:58Z")
I heard there was a dead beached calf in the same area - it could have been the calf’s mother. Although I didn’t hear anything even about whether the whale is female or male. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2006, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whale-spotted-in-central-london/340823/49 "2006-01-23T17:02:31Z")
Dang, I was so hoping that it would live. I hope it knew that the humans were trying to help it. The feel-bad story of the day. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2006, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whale-spotted-in-central-london/340823/50 "2006-01-23T17:26:35Z")
Well at least he got to see London. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whale-spotted-in-central-london/340823.md?page=2)