VETS, divers and marine experts converged on London yesterday in a race against time to save a whale from dying in the Thames.

The northern bottlenose, the first of its species recorded in the river in the past 100 years, reached Battersea by mid-afternoon, the farthest a whale has been known to reach in the Thames, and became an instant tourist attraction. A second whale was seen in the Thames estuary off Southend.

Police and lifeboat launches attempted to head off the six-tonne creature to prevent it swimming any further upstream, while marine medics inspected it for signs of illness. There were growing concerns among marine experts that the animal, estimated to be 18ft long, would have to be put down as it repeatedly tried to beach itself, only to be floated off the foreshore by the tide.

The only alternative to its being sick, they said, was that it had become lost and disorientated, perhaps while chasing food. It and a companion were first spotted in the Thames on Thursday lunchtime near Greenwich. One was later seen heading back to sea, but the second was found yesterday morning heading farther into London from Waterloo Bridge.

Two northern bottlenose whales were seen off the coast near Aberdeen earlier in the week and it was speculated that it was the same pair that were in the Thames yesterday, having got disorientated while hunting squid in the North Sea.

The first sighting of the whale in Central London was by a woman commuter who telephoned British Divers Marine Life Rescue, a voluntary group that specialises in refloating stranded whales. Alan Knight, of the group, said: “The woman was on a train and thought she was hallucinating.”

The last time a northern bottlenose was seen in the Thames was on November 27, 1899. It was reported in The Times the next day. Headlined “Capture of a Whale in the Thames”, the story tells how the beached 40ft creature thrashed vainly on the stony river bed to free itself and turned the water red with its blood. After it died, a rope was tied round its tail and it was towed off by a steam tug “with the intention of consulting with the Thames Conservancy officers as to its disposal”. .

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