A beluga whale has been spotted in the Thames, between Gravesend in Kent and Tilbury in Essex.
Can't believe I'm writing this, no joke - BELUGA in the Thames off Coalhouse Fort @RareBirdAlertUK pic.twitter.com/6VtrJ1PVc6
— Dave Andrews (@iPterodroma) September 25, 2018
Consultant Ecologist & Ornithologist Dave Andrews managed to film the whale, and shared a video on Twitter this morning.
For anyone twitching the #BELUGA its been feeding around the barges (see last tweet for location) for the last hour and hasn't moved more than 200m in either direction. Still present. Heres another video @RareBirdAlertUK pic.twitter.com/S2qxKJyuuD
— Dave Andrews (@iPterodroma) September 25, 2018
He's since posted two more videos of the whale, saying it hasn't moved more than 200m up or down the river.
Still here and showing well #BELUGA pic.twitter.com/uGqz3XabdP
— Dave Andrews (@iPterodroma) September 25, 2018
The videos show the white whale surfacing occasionally. People have been warned not to approach it, and to stay on the shore.
In 2006, a Northern Bottlenose Whale swam up the Thames until becoming stranded near Battersea and sadly not surviving the ordeal. It is now in the National Research Collection at the Natural History Museum.
Featured image: Dave Andrews
