View Full Version : Whale in the Thames....
caithnessgirl
20-Jan-06, 15:46
http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1209846,00.html
Yes - a whale in the Thames!! :confused
Just my luck! I move to Scotland, went nuts when I saw my first wild seal. I am constantly sea watching in the hopes of siting dolphins and whales, and WHERE do they go???? To London!
teddybear1873
20-Jan-06, 17:10
Could have been Vanessa Feltz having a wee swim or Fern Britton
good luck to them then, cos it is a pure manky bit o water
poor whale i hope it gets out there okay, yea your right its really dirty water :(
landmarker
20-Jan-06, 18:25
Just my luck! I move to Scotland, went nuts when I saw my first wild seal. I am constantly sea watching in the hopes of siting dolphins and whales, and WHERE do they go???? To London!
Have a weekend in Arisaig and take a boat out to Eigg.
connieb19
20-Jan-06, 18:26
Heard on the news there's another one too.. :(
There was a pod (group of 3 ) at south end on sea. One who they think could be ill is the one who's swam up the Thames. Hope it swims back with the tide.
good luck to them then, cos it is a pure manky bit o water
I thought I'd heard that the Thames had been cleaned up and was now good for fishing again?
Or did I dream it?
:confused:
Yes it has been cleaned up a great deal. I think I read that it has salmon again.
connieb19
20-Jan-06, 21:40
Yes it has been cleaned up a great deal. I think I read that it has salmon again.I still wouldn't fancy eating anything that came out of the Thames!!;)
I still wouldn't fancy eating anything that came out of the Thames!!;)
Poor whale hope they manage to get it out of there.I don't think i would want to eat salmon from the Thames either.
The Thames appears to be the cleanest it's been for a long long time although of course that doesn't mean the fish are edible. Salmon "might" be different being migratory as they spend a short time there. Might ask the Environment Agency out of curiosity.
Some interesting info on the species it now supports because of better water quality here:
http://www.wwtlearn.org.uk/index0.html?factfile/river-thames.htm&2
I didn't realise most of London's drinking water comes from non tidal areas of the river.
I hope the whale story ends well.
Geo, I did hear a programme about the Thames some time ago.
If my memory serves me correctly (I give a one hour guarantee) it went from the source to the sea.
By the time Londoners drink their water they are probably the fifth person to have done so.
Each time the water is used it goes via a sewage works (I think they like to call them Water Treatment Works or more commonly known as - silence) back into the river for the use of the next person down stream.
1 I'm not definitely not going to London.
2 The nice man in the programme tasted some as it went back into the Thames and said it tasted OK. Fine, I'll take his word for it, thank you very much!
:p [smirk]
willowbankbear
21-Jan-06, 11:55
Its a wonder it hasnt been shot in that part of the world, that was absolutely rank Jaws , ive no been to london & ye just put me right off going there mate[mad]
connieb19
21-Jan-06, 12:08
Are people in London recommended to drink bottled water then or is it quite safe to drink?:confused:
willowbankbear
21-Jan-06, 12:16
Well after reading what Jaws posted WOULD YE??????
EEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYUUUUUUUUUUUUKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK
No way Jose[mad] [mad] [mad]
But the nice man did assure us that it tasted alright, honest! [evil]
Oh for goodness sake, if you've never been to London and don't know anything about it how can you make such prejudiced comments? The water there is as good to drink as anywhere else in the UK and probably better than many. I can remember there being problems with the water up here not so long ago. And I can assure you Londoners are as concerned about wildlife as anyone else - where else in the world would you get such a fantastic rescue effort? Ok the volunteers come from all around but the most of the people watching are genuinely concerned as evidenced by the police saying how quiet they were so as not to disturb this poor animal. [mad]
Gawd, if you three ever met in London in real life, I think there'd soon be a badger, a bear and a great white shark swimming about in the Thames too. ;)
I might have sharp claws but don't think I'd want to take on those two - 'specially as I can't swim.
Oh, I've been to London, only about three times I must admit. Just didn't try the water.
Should have know better after the first time, I didn't like it then and the other times confirmed my first impression.
Not in the least bit different to any other city I've been to, too much traffic, too many people, too much noise, too many buildings, too much rush and not enough fast escape routes.
Nothing different about London, it's just as horrible as any city, no better, no worse.
Seen one, seen 'em all.
Oh yes, the whale, it's dead.
Talking of Great Whites, I wonder if there would have been so much concern if it had been or would there have been a great demand to get rid quick and any way possible or a great emotional outcry about it's welfare?
Are people in London recommended to drink bottled water then or is it quite safe to drink?:confused:
I'm assured it's perfectly safe to drink and is supposed to taste quite pallatable.
I did hear a rumour that in drought conditions it can involve a lot of phone calls.
"Mable, is that you mable? --- Good, I'm glad it's you, it's on it's way down now! --- It's just set off from here!" :evil
Very sadly the whale has died.:~( So sad after the hard work of all the volunteers who rescued it.
That is sad poor whale :~( I was hoping that there would have been a happier ending for the whale .
landmarker
21-Jan-06, 22:52
It is a great shame the whale has died.
I heard tonight on C4 that eighty people a year die in the murky waters of the River Thames. Not many of those cause such a stir. Strange world we live in.
It's very sad but I suspect fairly inevitable that the whale died.
Although the circumstances are rather different, and probably that was a major disadvantage, we are not unused to seeing news items of whales being transferred from place to place.
These are usually from Marine Parks and are well used to humans and human contact.
The whale in the Thames was a wild animal which had previously never seen a human in it's short life.
Suddenly having numerous completely strange creatures, however gentle, caring and well meaning, all round it and handling it must alone have put tremendous stress on it.
The physical strain on it's internal organs through being out of water would not have helped.
This is not to criticize in any way the people who did their best to try to return the creature to it's proper habitat.
I certainly have no suggestions for a alternative answer and I suspect very few others will either.
My feelings are for the people who struggled so hard for the whale without success.
I'm sure they must feel very down-hearted at the moment but I'm sure that if the situation arose again they would not hesitate to put the same effort in again.
Mr P Cannop
22-Jan-06, 01:19
am sorry to say it died '@7pm
OK, can we now start paying attention to serious stuff like child poverty instead of this sentimental claptrap.[mad]
OK, can we now start paying attention to serious stuff like child poverty instead of this sentimental claptrap.[mad]
Surely we are capable of caring about matters like child poverty as well as 'sentimental claptrap' like caring for the animals we share our planet with?!!!!
It is a great shame the whale has died.
I heard tonight on C4 that eighty people a year die in the murky waters of the River Thames. Not many of those cause such a stir. Strange world we live in.
Surely we are capable of caring about matters like child poverty as well as 'sentimental claptrap' like caring for the animals we share our planet with?!!!!
Oh please....... protect me from the politically correct tree-huggers around us.
It was an animal, it took a wrong turning, it got 'stuck', it died.
Landmarker tried to introduce a gentle reminder about perspective, I'm not so gentle.
This endless, soppy misguided 'British' concern gives me the pip.
Just tell me, where I can get a well-cooked whale-burger?[lol]
I'am with betty on this one. i watched a program about the orient and i must say those whale steaks look very tasty.
I also heard that the blubber makes a fine compound for quality tires.
What is wrong with some people? Us as human beings do have sentimental tendencies towards animals. whats so claptrap about that i ask ?
scrapydoo
22-Jan-06, 14:35
I'am with betty on this one. i watched a program about the orient and i must say those whale steaks look very tasty.
I also heard that the blubber makes a fine compound for quality tires.
How would you feel if it was you they were going to use to make quality tires. Whats wrong with people wanting to care for animals lets face it there would be alot more animals on this planet if it was'nt for man destruction.
I also heard that the blubber makes a fine compound for quality tires.
I thought it used to be rendered down for lamp oil. I know it was used to oil weaving looms and also in oil lamps for lighting.
I believe spermaceti oil from Sperm Whales was the most disireable because of it's quality.
In the 1780s it cost as much per gallon as paraffin did only 50 years ago. I would think a labourer would have had to work months to earn that sort of money.
When a whaler got amongst the Sperm Whales it must have been like winning the Lottery.
I thought it used to be rendered down for lamp oil. I know it was used to oil weaving looms and also in oil lamps for lighting.
I believe spermaceti oil from Sperm Whales was the most disireable because of it's quality.
In the 1780s it cost as much per gallon as paraffin did only 50 years ago. I would think a labourer would have had to work months to earn that sort of money.
When a whaler got amongst the Sperm Whales it must have been like winning the Lottery.
I must say i'am impressed with your knowledge of the whaling industry and was hopeing you could give me some info on where i can sign up to one of the whaling fleets.
I've always wanted to harpoon one of those defenceless creatures and my car tires really could do with changing.
landmarker
22-Jan-06, 15:45
I've been thrilled by the sight of Killer Whales off Rhum and almost as excited spotting Minkies last year in the same place. I love the Whale.
My little post about the people who die in the river was not meant as some soap box crusade. Just a poignant point , reported minutes after I'd heard the statistics on telly. It made me think. Others too, obviously. That can only be a postive step. Whales are perhaps, it could be argued even more precious than people as there are far fewer of them. I'm not sure we can be as dispassionate as this but it's a fact isn't it?
What is wrong with some people? Us as human beings do have sentimental tendencies towards animals. whats so claptrap about that i ask ?
Us as human beings EAT animals, so what's to get sentimental about.
They're food on legs is all - no sentiment invovled.
scrapydoo
22-Jan-06, 15:49
Would you eat your cat or dog if you have one
If I had to, yes no problem. I love a bit of lamb with mint sauce, what's the difference?
I gather you must be a vegan treehugger then?
I must say i'am impressed with your knowledge of the whaling industry and was hopeing you could give me some info on where i can sign up to one of the whaling fleets.
I've always wanted to harpoon one of those defenceless creatures and my car tires really could do with changing.
Norway's a good start, Japan's a bit far.
I must confess, when all those who were suffering from the "Shudders" yesterday started emailing the News with "They shudder been doing this" and "They shudder been doing that" I did consider suggesting they shudder been asking the Norwegians because they do know a lot about dealing with whales.
I remember a Golden Eagle escaping once from London Zoo and setting up home in, I think it was Regents Park.
It decided to have nothing else in it's territory and started to attack people at will.
It was intent on attacking small pets as well but for an entirely different reason.
It went on for days, Goldie the Golden Eagle, yes they gave it a name, still crops up occasionally in stories of past news items.
There was great fuss, worry and discussion of how best to capture it etc.
The answer was simplicity itself, both barrels, pick it up and take it back to the Zoo.
If they didn't want to miss an Exhibit I'm sure a local Taxidermist could have been only too willing to help.
At least it would have left room on the News for some thing important.
It was "only" a whale, probably condemed from the minute he got lost. Probably already sick, which was why he got lost. This animal suffered and was alone. He did not have his pod with him. He did not have anything familiar around him. He was stressed and yes, he suffered greatly. I do feel compassion for him. Dismissing his suffering as nothing is crass.
The whole ecosystem maintains you, sweaty betty et al. If you want to look at animals as food on legs, then you have to intergrate yourselves fully into that ecosystem as exactly the same: food on legs. Human beings on the whole exclude themselves from the food chain. You are no more than an animal with higher (?) mental function. How about you use some of that mental function to respect the animals that die to feed you and some of the planet that dies everyday in keeping you comfortable in your twentieth century life style.
No one of us can save the world, but we can all do a little bit, even it is to cheer on the saving of one whale or trying to reduce our personal impact on the earth .
PS: Just thought that maybe some people will be confused as to what ecology, global warming and meat animals have to do with a whale on the Thames: Its not normal For this kind of animal to do what it did. It was probably already sick. Many sea mamals are becoming increasingly ill and fragile due to pollutents and climate changes.
This animal suffered and was alone. He did not have his pod with him.
I'am almost certain i could see his Ipod nano tucked away in his blowhole not sure about the head phones tho. lol
The whole ecosystem maintains you, sweaty betty et al. If you want to look at animals as food on legs, then you have to intergrate yourselves fully into that ecosystem as exactly the same: food on legs. Human beings on the whole exclude themselves from the food chain.
Blah blah blah yadayadayada
I am part of the food chain, when I die I get popped into the ground for recycling. The people you should be nagging at are those selfish folk who get cremated. ;)
I understand all that guff, what gets me is the wholesale anthropomorphing of the animal kingdom. There is nothing cute, cuddly or sweet about the animal kingdom. [evil]
The media circus surrounding this event, engineering how we feel is also part of the problem.
Whales have always beached and always will, even perfectly healthy ones.
I think an observation passed by one of the experts summed it up nicely yesterday.
We sometimes have accidents and fall into the sea, this whale had an accident and fell out of the sea.
Perhaps put in a very simplistic way but none the less an accurate description.
This was not a massive disaster and probably not brought about by any changes, global or otherwise, it was one rather young and immature whale making a rather bad decision. Young immature humans, despite yours of learning can still sometimes manage to do the same and occasionally ending in the same result.
I supposed it is possible that it had realised it's mistake in the North Sea, realised it should have turned right at some point and took one large opening too soon.
I've never heard an explanation of how whales navigate but I would think it is a little more than by hit and miss based on luck.
As to the complaint about "food on legs" and integrating into the ecosystem try walking near a pride of hungry lions or African hunting dogs and I suspect you will soon have an idea of natures version of "food on legs" and fitting into the eco system.
There is a sometimes a difference between feeling compassion and accepting things as they are.
I detest having to watch anything suffer but that does not mean I am going to wear sack cloth and ashes and disappear into a period of deep mourning.
To put things in a little more perspective, check my post from yesterday evening about the Great White. If one of those had ended up in the same place after attacking a child off Southend, do you think their would have been anything like the same response?
Would there have been anything said at all if it had been a stranded salmon.
But then again, perhaps they are not as big a part of the world's ecology.
Why should anybody care if they suffer and die?
I'm off now to write out one thousand times "I must be nice to the Midgie!"
I disagree. Some things are not finite. Compassion is one of those things. Because you empathize with an animals suffering does not mean you don't empathize with a human being. There is more then enough for both.
If we didn't athropomophize animals, animal welfare would not be a concern. Should then animal welfare be thrown in the garbage as mumbo jumbo coming from people who want to sentimentalize the animal?
Jaws, I have empathy with suffering, I belive in animal welfare and I work with animals everyday, even in death.However I do not love them nor do I wear sack cloth everyday and am not even a vegeterian. I just respect them and what they provide. A bit anthropomorphic, your signature, no????
connieb19
22-Jan-06, 17:42
Us as human beings EAT animals, so what's to get sentimental about.
They're food on legs is all - no sentiment invovled.Whales....with legs???:confused: lol
Whales....with legs???:confused: lol
yeh did you not see them going about the toon last nite lol
connieb19
22-Jan-06, 17:48
yeh did you not see them going about the toon last nite lolNow you mention it I did see a few on my travels..lol :roll:
what just a few i seen a whole pod .lol
I disagree. Some things are not finite. Compassion is one of those things. Because you empathize with an animals suffering does not mean you don't empathize with a human being. There is more then enough for both.
If we didn't athropomophize animals, animal welfare would not be a concern. Should then animal welfare be thrown in the garbage as mumbo jumbo coming from people who want to sentimentalize the animal?
Jaws, I have empathy with suffering, I belive in animal welfare and I work with animals everyday, even in death.However I do not love them nor do I wear sack cloth everyday and am not even a vegeterian. I just respect them and what they provide. A bit anthropomorphic, your signature, no????
Mmmmm? Not often I'm stopped dead in my tracks.
I can either take the fifth or go sick until I've thought of a way out of that one!
My signature is very nearly correct, perhaps one word needs adjusting.
I should probably change "Love" to "Like".
Just thought I'd leave you with some interesting aphorisms that I think have a little to do with this thread:
The assumption that animals are without rights and the illusion that our treatment of them has no moral significance is a positively outrageous example of Western crudity and barbarity. Universal compassion is the only guarantee of morality. ~Schopenhauer
Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits. Yet he is lord of all the animals. ~George Orwell, Animal Farm
Drinking without being thirsty and making love at any time, Madame, are the only things that distinguish us from other animals. ~Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, The Marriage of Figaro, 1784, translated
The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for white, or women created for men. ~Alice Walker
Those who wish to pet and baby wild animals "love" them. But those who respect their natures and wish to let them live normal lives, love them more. ~Edwin Way Teale, Circle of the Seasons, 1953
When a man wants to murder a tiger he calls it sport; when the tiger wants to murder him he calls it ferocity. ~George Bernard Shaw
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated” Gandhi
Hope I didn't bore you.
Schopenhauer was "a lonely, violent and unbefriended man, who shared his bachelor's existence with a poodle. ... [He was of the view that the world was simply an idea in his head] a mere phantasmagoria of my brain, that therefore in itself is nothing. -Chambers
George Orwell shooting an elephant - When he saw the elephant, it was obviously quite docile, and he knew that he ought not to shoot it. He also knew, however, that the crowd fully expected him to kill the elephant, and he realized that he was in fact trapped by their expectations, and by the fear of looking foolish if he did nothing. He also realized that if he decided to get closer in an attempt to gauge the musth of the elephant, and he had misjudged the animal's mood, his poor rifle skills and a charging elephant would have assuredly resulted in his death, perhaps to the delight of the crowd. Hence Orwell concluded that he could not disappoint them.
Aiming at his perceived location of the elephant's brain, Orwell fired a shot which brought the elephant to its knees. After another shot, the elephant gained his footing only to be brought collapsing down with another rifle round. The elephant being still alive, Orwell fired two more elephant rifle rounds and then a clip of regular rifle rounds into the beast to no avail. Unable to stand the elephant's agony any longer, Orwell went away only to learn later that the elephant remained in that state for another thirty minutes. Afterward, the elephant carcass was swiftly stripped of its meat by many Burmans.
etc etc etc :lol:
I was once given the advice that should I come face to face with a leopard that I should not run but stand and face it down. Running only ensured it would get you.
I am still waiting for an answer to what I felt was a very reasonable question.
"Has anybody told that to the leopards?"
Fortunately I never had to test the theory.
I was once given the advice that should I come face to face with a leopard that I should not run but stand and face it down. Running only ensured it would get you.
I am still waiting for an answer to what I felt was a very reasonable question.
"Has anybody told that to the leopards?"
Fortunately I never had to test the theory.
You couldn't outrun a leopard anyway, so why not stay put and just get it over with more quickly!?
You couldn't outrun a leopard anyway, so why not stay put and just get it over with more quickly!?
I know not to bother climbing a tree, but running?
I suppose I could hope it might get the dust and small pebbles in it's eyes! :eyes
Powered by vBulletin® Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.