Whale in London News Item Deleted

You —

I have deleted the whale news item. It does not really have any relevance here.

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Dave — Sat, 21 Jan 2006 - 19:33

AdminI have deleted the whale news item. It does not really have any relevance here.

lol I loved that article! Somebody turn it into a thread - i'm going to need constant updates.

That thing must be so confused 😂

*DUST* — Sat, 21 Jan 2006 - 19:41

Don Karnage

AdminI have deleted the whale news item. It does not really have any relevance here.

lol I loved that article! Somebody turn it into a thread - i'm going to need constant updates.

That thing must be so confused :lol:

yeh Admin come on!! not everything has to be dead serious! i mean this is the biggest new item of the day - BBC alone has TEN articles on it!!!

😃

Beast — Sat, 21 Jan 2006 - 19:42

Don Karnage

AdminI have deleted the whale news item. It does not really have any relevance here.

lol I loved that article! Somebody turn it into a thread - i'm going to need constant updates.

That thing must be so confused :lol:

Too late!

It's gone to whale heavan.

Dave — Sat, 21 Jan 2006 - 19:45

*DUST*

Don Karnage
AdminI have deleted the whale news item. It does not really have any relevance here.

lol I loved that article! Somebody turn it into a thread - i'm going to need constant updates.

That thing must be so confused :lol:

yeh Admin come on!! not everything has to be dead serious! i mean this is the biggest new item of the day - BBC alone has TEN articles on it!!!

:D

Zactly!

It's A WHALE in the middle of London!!!

This is like 2 world records in one - largest mammal to swim in the Thames,

and the only mammal brave enough to swim in the Thames.

...i'm surprised it hasn't died from the toxins yet

Dave — Sat, 21 Jan 2006 - 19:46

Beast

Don Karnage
AdminI have deleted the whale news item. It does not really have any relevance here.

lol I loved that article! Somebody turn it into a thread - i'm going to need constant updates.

That thing must be so confused :lol:

Too late!

It's gone to whale heavan.

THEY KILLED MY WHALE!!

Barbarians.

Beast — Sat, 21 Jan 2006 - 19:49

Don Karnage

*DUST*
yeh Admin come on!! not everything has to be dead serious! i mean this is the biggest new item of the day - BBC alone has TEN articles on it!!!

:D

Zactly!

It's A WHALE in the middle of London!!!

This is like 2 world records in once - largest mammal to swim in the Thames,

and the only mammal brave enough to swim in the Thames.

...i'm surprised it hasn't died from the toxins yet

What it is is that this kind of story is where live TV news flourishes.

It pulls in the ratings.

Why else did Sky and BBC give continuous coverage (zzzzzzzzz) to this from midday to this evening?

You — Sat, 21 Jan 2006 - 20:00

Its a human interest story.

You can imagine all the female viewers sitting there going aaaawwww!

and then like a good matinee at the end leaving with a few tears...

Its a blockbuster.

But there are some types of news best left elsewhere.

I am sure if we had a sports results news items, they would be popular... but not relevant.

Dave — Sat, 21 Jan 2006 - 20:02

AdminIts a human interest story.

You can imagine all the female viewers sitting there going aaaawwww!

and then like a good matinee at the end leaving with a few tears...

Its a blockbuster.

Are you suggesting this was an assassination?

Beast — Sat, 21 Jan 2006 - 20:08

:roll:

There's hundreds of whales that die every day.

Just because this one was on TV doesn't make it worthy of extra sympathy.

*DUST* — Sat, 21 Jan 2006 - 20:11

Beast:roll:

There's hundreds of whales that die every day.

Just because this one was on TV doesn't make it worthy of extra sympathy.

:roll:

how do u know '100's of whales die everyday?

and just because it was on TV doesn't mean it doesn't deserve any sympathy.

Beast — Sat, 21 Jan 2006 - 20:15

Maybe not hundreds but 10s. I don't know the worlwide whale death rate.

We don't get upset at the death of every other sea-dwelling mamal.

Why this one?

Because it was on TV?

Dave — Sat, 21 Jan 2006 - 20:20

BeastMaybe not hundreds but 10s. I don't know the worlwide whale death rate.

We don't get upset at the death of every other sea-dwelling mamal.

Why this one?

Because it was on TV?

Because he was so young and innocent.

And because each and every one of us could identify with his story of struggle and self discovery - searching for his place in this intimidatingly large ocean of life.

Fighting the current to seek a new better life up stream.

That's why we watched. That's why we cheered. That's why we grieve.

I like to think there is a little bottlenosed whale in all of us - just waiting to burst forth and swim up stream.

And for that reason we can rest easy in the knowledge that Omar isn't dead - because the dream isn't dead.

We're gonna miss you buddy.

Beast — Sat, 21 Jan 2006 - 20:23

Don KarnageBecause he was so young and innocent.

And because each and every one of us could identify with his story of struggle and self discovery - searching for his place in this intimidatingly large ocean of life.

Fighting the current to seek a new better life up stream.

That's why we watched. That's why we cheered. That's why we grieve.

I like to think there is a little bottlenosed whale in all of us - just waiting to burst forth and swim up stream.

And for that reason we can rest easy in the knowledge that Omar isn't dead - because the dream isn't dead.

We're gonna miss you buddy.

Makes sense now.

:oops:

:?

🙁

😢

Dave — Sat, 21 Jan 2006 - 20:27

So what's up with this Piranha problem?

They don't think the Thames has Piranhas in it right...

They're nasty - they'll mess your day up.

At least it's not a Candiru :shock:

You — Sat, 21 Jan 2006 - 20:31

I have split this topic from the newsblog topic.

When I was watching Sky News yesterday, one of the pundits mentioned how large mammals try to be alone when dying... they leave their packs.

maybe the whale was trying to do the same?

Beast — Sun, 22 Jan 2006 - 12:38

London's whale history: We weren’t always quite so sentimental

Whales have swum up the Thames to London many times over the years — but never before to such support and sympathy. The last time such a large whale ventured so far upstream was in 1961 when a 16ft minke whale was spotted around Kew Bridge.

On that occasion the creature was regarded as dangerous after overturning a dinghy and drowning a man.

Instead of being rescued, the whale was followed by police launches who warned people to keep clear until it died.

Historically, whales have had an even tougher time. London in the 17th century, for example, was home to a flourishing whaling industry that killed tens of thousands of animals a year simply to extract their oil for lighting.

Barrels of whale oil were placed around the streets and lit each night — winning the city a reputation as one of the best lit in Europe.

Alex Werner, a curator at the Museum of London who has researched London’s whaling history, found that fleets were sent to Greenland, the south Atlantic and the Pacific. “Killing whales brought untold wealth back to the city,” he said.

It meant that when the occasional whale swam up the Thames, Londoners were far less sympathetic than now. One of the earliest sightings was in 1240 when chroniclers recorded that a “beast of prodigious size” had swum under London Bridge. The reaction of the populace was to chase it upstream and harpoon it to death.

On September 2, 1658, another large whale appeared in the aftermath of a great storm. Dr Howell, a chronicler of the time, wrote in his Ancient and Present State of England how “there came up the Thames as far as Greenwich a whale of very great length and bigness”. It, too, was harpooned.

Such records suggest that whales used to appear in the Thames reasonably often in the days before industrial whaling decimated their populations. Nowadays such visits are a rarity — there are just far fewer whales in the oceans.

However, whales have often visited other rivers around Britain. In 2003 the body of a 15ft minke whale was found near Gainsborough in Lincolnshire — about 60 miles from the sea — after it had swum along the Humber and entered the Trent.

The last time there was a similar level of interest in the fate of a stricken whale was in 1997 when a 40ft sperm whale became stranded in the Firth of Forth 10 miles upstream of the road and rail bridges. The creature spent two weeks struggling to find a way out.

Times