The lost whale that swam along the River Thames into central London died tonight while on a barge that was trying to save it and eventually return it to the wild.
At around 7:00pm this evening 'the animal had convulsions and
died. It was not put to sleep,' said Tony Woodley, spokesman of the British Divers Marine Life Rescue Group.
He said he could not speculate on the cause of death. 'It's probably multiple problems,' he said.
Earlier, rescuers who winched the whale on to a barge in central London and headed down river expressed pessimism about its chances of survival, saying it had become very stressed.
The 15 foot-long Northern Bottlenose whale first came to public attention when it was spotted yesterday wandering up the Thames under Tower Bridge.
