DESPITE the best efforts of rescuers, including members of the British Divers Marine Life Rescue team - who have often featured in animal-saving missions on the Thames in the Thurrock region - a young whale stranded in the west London reaches of the river has been euthanised this afternoon.

Since being discovered in the river yesterday (Sunday, 9 May), when the four metre long young Minke whale was trapped at the lock and weir at Richmond, just upstream of Twickenham Bridge the whale's story has captured attention.

The whale was released by divers from the rescue service and released back into the river where it attacked big crowds.

TV film crews and even a news helicopter have been on the scene and events were closely followed by our sister site Teddington Nub News.

However, at 4.45pm today divers confirmed that the health of the whale had deteriorated rapidly, as it was positioned against the river wall with the tide dropping quickly.

The decision was taken shortly afterwards to euthanise the Minke to end its suffering as it had become clear that it had run out of strength and was struggling to swim.

British Divers Marine Life Rescue said: "The juvenile minke whale in the River Thames at Teddington Weir has deteriorated rapidly over the last couple of hours of monitoring by BDMLR medics and representatives from Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme, based at the Zoological Society of London.

"BDMLR medics will try to position themselves to prevent the whale entering deep water again where it is now having difficulty swimming as its strength reserves seem to be compromised.

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"Once the whale is beached a veterinary team will be on stand-by to euthanise the animal to end its suffering, in the meantime the team will continue to do what they can to care for the animal under these sad circumstances."

The London rescue bid evoked memories of an incident in March when a young seal was attacked by a dog while basking in the same area of the Thames' upper tidal reaches. Freddie, as the seal was named, was rushed to Orsett's Wildlife Hospital by rescue teams who landed at the Port of Tilbury after rushing down river but in the end there was also a sad ending to that story as Freddie was too badly injured to recover.

And in February last year there was another sad conclusion to an attempted rescue when a sperm whale beached itself in the Thames across from Thurrock.

There was one recent whale story that did end happily. For several weeks in the autumn of 2018 the nation was captivated by the antics of Bertie the Beluga who cavorted in the Thames off Thurrock before eventually making his way out to sea and safety.