Stiff Upper Lip!

The above is a photo of a whale spotted swimming in the Thames River in Central London this morning. According to BBC News, the 7 Ton whale has made its way up the Thames to central London where it is being watched by riverside crowds. The whale is a 16-18 foot bottle-nosed whale. This species usually is found in deep sea waters (Arctic and North Atlantic) and lives on a diet of squid and fish.

A commuter on the tube reportedly called in at 8am to say that he may be hallucinating, but he thinks he saw a whale in the Thames. Liz Sandeman, a medic at the Marine Connection, a whale and dolphin protection organization, has said that "The last thing we want to do is stress the animal out." I hate it when scientist types use big words and noone can understand them.

This bottle-nosed whale (whose population is at a lower risk for extinction--they have been protected since the 70's) usually travels in groups of 3-10, but this one arrived alone. No one is really sure why the whale may be in the Thames, but it has been speculated by many that it may be "confused".

The curator of the London Aquarium has said, "Getting that thing to do anything it doesn't want to do is going to be extremely difficult. " I guess it would be.

Authorities in London are watching the whale for the rest of the day to see what it will do. It seems to be having trouble navigating around bridges and such, so scientists seem to think that its sonar isn't functioning properly. They are all hoping that the whale will leave the Thames before the flood-tide receeds, or it may become beached. Efforts could then be made to refloat it using specialist inflatable pontoon equipment that was being sent to the scene and could help direct it back towards the sea. In the meantime, brilliant Londoners merely stand in the water and splash away at it.

This is the same Londoners who were shocked and frightened one day when a seagull dropped a barely dead piranha onto a boat. Everyone was very worried how a piranha could be in London, since the water there is much too cold for it to survive. Thank God that in America piranhas do not fall from the sky.

But I guess the reason is that we are such a God Fearing Country.

Or maybe its because God Fears Our Country.

We just seem to blow up anyone who messes with us. Then go blow up people for blowing up people who mess with them. . . it's a very "Do as I say...not as I do" kind of country, the USA.

Happy Weekend.