Medics and vets prepare whale for barge rescue

21/01/2006 - 14:26:21
A rescue team of medics and vets were today preparing to move the River Thames whale on to a barge in the hope that it could be taken back out to sea.

An inflatable pontoon system was being used to support the 15ft northern bottle-nosed whale as it lay in shallow water close to Battersea Bridge in central London.

It was then hoped that the team would be able to lift the whale on to a barge before taking it downriver towards the estuary.

The rescue team have already taken blubber and blood samples from the animal and are awaiting test results to see whether it is fit to be released back into the sea.

Meanwhile, thousands of onlookers gathered on the bridge and traffic struggled to move past the large crowd spilling on to the road.