***Update:- sadly the whale has died.***
Experts believe the whale isn’t distressed after it was seen near Woolwich and Dagenham over the weekend. The British Divers Marine Life Rescue confirmed it was there on Sunday, and Julia Cable, national co-ordinator said “It seems to be doing fine. We watched it doing normal diving and surfacing behaviour. It is surfacing once every five or six minutes which is normal.”
The whale was seen by long-time sailor Richard Banner (who took the photos) who tweeted ‘In 50 years of sailing the river Thames first time I’ve met a whale there!” Humpback whales are seen off the British coast further north sometimes but it’s unusual to see one within the Thames Estuary.
Ms Cable said it probably had made a navigational error.
