Whale swims through London on River Thames

Experts suggest that something was confusing the mammal.
LONDON (AP) -- It's a whale of a tale -- a bottle-nosed whale swimming up the River Thames past Big Ben and Parliament on Friday as rows of worried Londoners looked on.
The northern bottle-nosed whale was spotted in central London in the afternoon -- the first sighting in the river since whale-watching records began in 1913 -- as it flailed around the murky waters of the Thames, stirring up patches of what looked like blood as seagulls hovered above and rescue boats stood on the ready.
Witness Tom Howard-Vyne said he saw the mammal swim under Westminster Bridge, near Big Ben. "I saw it blow. It was a spout of water which sparkled in the air," said Howard-Vyne. "It was an amazing sight."
Other witnesses reported seeing a second whale in another part of the river Friday, and marine experts spotted two disoriented whales off northeastern Scotland last week, suggesting something was causing bottle-nosed whales to become confused.
"It is a race against time to save the animal," said Alison Shaw, marine and freshwater conservation program manager at the Zoological Society of London.
Rescue boats
A small armada of rescue boats made frantic searches for the whale, which disappeared from view around sunset after diving under the surface of the water.
Crews barricaded a section of river in an attempt to force the animal to change course and reports Friday evening claimed the mammal may be heading for safety.
Britain's Maritime and Coastguard Agency said the whale was last seen at Chelsea Bridge -- further downriver from earlier sightings, meaning the animal could be moving back out to sea.
"A whale in the shallow water of the River Thames is like a human lost in the heat of the Sahara desert," said Laila Sadler, scientific officer at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. She estimated it could survive only for 24 to 48 hours in a river that has an average depth of between 26 feet and 20 feet.
"It also seems to be in distress, it has made two seemingly deliberate attempts to beach itself," Sadler said.
Witnesses reported seeing injuries to the mammal, claiming its snout was bloodied. Photos also appeared to show damage to one of the whale's eyes and a number of cuts to its torso, though Sadler said these are not uncommon.
Several onlookers jumped into the river's 48-degree water -- after the mammal emerged, splashing to coax it away from shore.
The whale -- which is about 17 feet long -- is normally seen in the deep northern Atlantic, traveling in pods. They can reach 26 feet long -- the size of a red double-decker London bus.
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