"I saw it blow..." Whale spotted near Westminster Bridge

January 20, 2006 4:22 AM

"I saw it blow..." Whale spotted near Westminster Bridge
posted by atticus (64 comments total)

There was no immediate comment from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott.

Nice ending.
posted by TheDonF at 4:30 AM on January 20, 2006

Nah it's just *tabloidcelebrity* bathing /snark

What the hell is a whale doing there?
posted by elpapacito at 4:31 AM on January 20, 2006

Hiding from the Japanese, I guess.
posted by Jimbob at 4:47 AM on January 20, 2006

fantastic photomontage
posted by mr.marx at 4:48 AM on January 20, 2006

Ha ha! Hiliarious picture!
posted by Acey at 4:49 AM on January 20, 2006

BBC news has an actual photograph of it.
posted by fire&wings at 4:59 AM on January 20, 2006

Hanging around the London Aquarium, I notice.

When's visiting hours, then?
posted by scaryduck at 5:06 AM on January 20, 2006

Wow I laughed before 9 AM. That's some beautiful photoshop work. I would like to request "what a whale might look like with Savion Glover perched upon his nose" please.
posted by kingfisher, his musclebound cat at 5:08 AM on January 20, 2006

And wow, instead they remove it and post a real photo. I can't even have a dream whale.
posted by kingfisher, his musclebound cat at 5:10 AM on January 20, 2006

Damn, I wish I'd saved the original "artist's rendering" now.
posted by Acey at 5:15 AM on January 20, 2006

Continuous live footage on Sky News in the UK. The whale beached at Battersea Power Station (which you know from the cover of Pink Floyd's 'Animals'). It's off the bank now but it did appear to injure itself. Upsetting to watch.
posted by MinPin at 5:32 AM on January 20, 2006

BBC Online has a live streaming video (popup link in story here)
posted by LondonYank at 5:45 AM on January 20, 2006

I have just spent my lunch hour watching this from the riverbank - the poor animal must be quite distressed, it has come very close to the edge of the river. Very surreal, if upsetting, to watch. I hope it finds its way out again.
posted by greycap at 5:46 AM on January 20, 2006

it's trying to get to Cardiff
posted by mr.marx at 5:48 AM on January 20, 2006

It's an ambassador.
posted by hoverboards don't work on water at 5:50 AM on January 20, 2006

it's trying to get to Cardiff

Me, I would have taken the M4, but then I'm not a whale.
posted by CynicalKnight at 5:56 AM on January 20, 2006

I briefly thought how cool would it be if it made it all the way up to Windsor (where I work) but then realised that would probably entail some pretty clever work on the whale's part working the locks.
posted by LondonYank at 6:01 AM on January 20, 2006

What a waste. They'll just boil it and ruin the flavor.
posted by bondcliff at 6:39 AM on January 20, 2006

It's come for the stupid bastard who stole the penguin.

(And don't ask me how the whale knows the penguin thief's in London. He just knows, alright? So feed the thief to the whale or it's not going away.)
posted by pracowity at 6:41 AM on January 20, 2006

Whale seems to be heading out now. Meanwhile another one has been spotted further out the Thames.
posted by movilla at 6:43 AM on January 20, 2006

Does it have lasers attached to its head? A razor-sharp fin?

Could be a secret military conspiracy.
posted by mikel at 6:44 AM on January 20, 2006

It's an invasion! RUN!!!
posted by JeffK at 6:45 AM on January 20, 2006

How will it taste in batter with some chips?
posted by meehawl at 7:02 AM on January 20, 2006

It's an invasion!

I never dreamed that it would turn out to be the whales. They've always been our friend.
posted by bwerdmuller at 7:04 AM on January 20, 2006

It's an invasion! RUN!!!

You can run but you can't swim...
posted by penguin pie at 7:05 AM on January 20, 2006

WHALES! On a THAMES!
posted by mendel at 7:09 AM on January 20, 2006

it's trying to get to Cardiff

Is it Zeta-Jones mating season already?
posted by Rothko at 7:12 AM on January 20, 2006

So, we had a whale in the Delaware River here in Philadelphia last summer. They wanted to call it the 'Del-a-whale!' Is that rich? It turns out it had a name. It was Helles, and they knew its name because of its flukes. It was very educational.
posted by fixedgear at 7:22 AM on January 20, 2006

A whale goes up the Delaware, and they already know its name? What a fluke!
posted by mendel at 7:25 AM on January 20, 2006

These jokes are floundering.
posted by horsewithnoname at 7:48 AM on January 20, 2006

Ugh. Comedy shouldn't be this crappie.
posted by Astro Zombie at 7:50 AM on January 20, 2006

Yeah, comedy should have a porpoise.
posted by cloeburner at 7:50 AM on January 20, 2006

The BBC says it is the first whale sighting in the Thames since 1913!
posted by LarryC at 7:51 AM on January 20, 2006

seriously, all these puns totally blow.
posted by jonson at 7:52 AM on January 20, 2006

Narwhal have to delete some of these comments.

/slaps forehead
posted by Jofus at 7:53 AM on January 20, 2006

In Russia whale hunts you.
posted by OmieWise at 8:04 AM on January 20, 2006

Alls Whale that Thames Whale.
posted by dial-tone at 8:12 AM on January 20, 2006

It's you guys' fault the admins have to keep baleen us out.
posted by jenovus at 8:21 AM on January 20, 2006

Anyway, this will teach me to click on a link simply because I saw the words "I saw it blow."
posted by Astro Zombie at 8:22 AM on January 20, 2006

It's just round the corner from my flat. I don't manage to photograph the whale (though I did see it several times). This is the best picture I took. That's two of the four news helicopters that a circling over Battersea Park, plus a plane approaching Heathrow.
posted by cillit bang at 8:41 AM on January 20, 2006

maybe he's trying to get to wales ...

(hey, someone was going to say it)
posted by pyramid termite at 8:58 AM on January 20, 2006

What a waste. They'll just boil it and ruin the flavor.

Ha! That was funny.

If it doesn't make it, they should give it to Fergus Henderson.
posted by Cyrano at 9:02 AM on January 20, 2006

WRT Jeff MacNelly
posted by cenoxo at 9:07 AM on January 20, 2006

Stop it. You're krilling me.
posted by dhartung at 9:09 AM on January 20, 2006

The two beaching incidents in particular made me blubber.
posted by rootz at 9:37 AM on January 20, 2006

dang, I thought I was going to get to see more whale explosion footage... ah, memories.
posted by mowglisambo at 9:40 AM on January 20, 2006

George: I got about fifty-feet out and then suddenly the great beast appeared before me. I tell ya he was ten stories high if he was a foot. As if sensing my presence he gave out a big bellow. I said, "Easy big fella!" And then as I watched him struggling I realized something was obstructing his breathing. From where I was standing I could see directly into the eye of the great fish!
Jerry: Mammal.
George: Whatever.
Kramer: Well, what did you do next?
George: Then from out of nowhere a huge title wave lifted, tossed like a quark and I found myself on top of him face to face with the blow-hole. I could barely see from all of the waves crashing down on top of me but I knew something was there so I reached my hand and pulled out the obstruction!
(George pulls out of the inside pocket a golf ball)
(Jerry and George just stare at Kramer)
posted by blue_beetle at 9:41 AM on January 20, 2006

Some good pictures of the Whale and the crowds on Flickr.
posted by cushie at 10:23 AM on January 20, 2006

maybe he's trying to get to wales ...

(hey, someone was going to say it)

*cough*
posted by mr.marx at 10:24 AM on January 20, 2006

I'm guessing the Thames has become quite a bit cleaner this past decade or so, eh? I'm under the impression that there was a time a whale would have immediately expired upon coming in contact with undiluted Thames water.
posted by five fresh fish at 10:41 AM on January 20, 2006

Your guess is right. The Thames might be cleaner now than it has ever been in hundreds of years. Maybe that might be why this whale thought it might be a good place to hang out for a while. Unfortunately its visit coincided with a very low tide.
posted by normy at 1:45 PM on January 20, 2006

The BBC says it is the first whale sighting in the Thames since 1913!

Correction: First living thing sighted in the Thames since 1913, excluding daily crossing of river snakes, sewer rats and other members of the House of Lords.
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 1:55 PM on January 20, 2006

Correction to MRK: Salmon, seals, etc have been seen in the Thames for years. I saw a seal near my work at Tower Bridge 2 years ago.
posted by movilla at 4:10 PM on January 20, 2006

*cues up the Decemberists*
posted by jokeefe at 4:14 PM on January 20, 2006

I missed the photoshop photo. Flickr has one though - was this it?
posted by deborah at 7:11 PM on January 20, 2006

I for one welcome our new whale overlords.

Seriously, I shorely hope the big fellow (or fella) makes it back out to mer-sea and finds its i-pod.
posted by NorthernSky at 11:25 PM on January 20, 2006

I hope he is having a whale of a time.
posted by asok at 12:13 AM on January 21, 2006

posted by cillit bang at 3:38 AM on January 21, 2006

Is he by the Battersea Power Station?

The Pink Floyd album that never was.
posted by Astro Zombie at 4:12 AM on January 21, 2006

It's died :(
posted by Lotto at 11:23 AM on January 21, 2006

Link.
posted by Lotto at 11:23 AM on January 21, 2006

The news just announced that it died during transport. :(
posted by NorthernSky at 11:23 AM on January 21, 2006

From the ocean depths, only to die at the whim of curiosity:

... H. ampullatus frequently approaches sluggish ships and may circle around them for an hour or more. This behavior, coupled with the tendancy for group members to aid an injured individual, made the Northern bottlenose whale a favorite target of whaling vessels

What a pity. Farewell, Hyperoodon ampullatus.
posted by cenoxo at 1:30 PM on January 21, 2006

Poor little whale.
posted by Mocata at 12:28 PM on January 22, 2006