Minke whale calf spotted upstream in London as fears grow for its survival

LONDON: A three-metre injured minke whale calf was spotted swimming upstream in the River Thames on Monday in west London, just hours after rescuers rushed to save the giant mammal's life by refloating it.

A Reuters photographer spotted the whale several miles upstream from where it was refloated by a team of rescuers from the Port of London Authority, Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI), British Divers Marine Life Rescue, London Fire Brigade and the police. As the whale headed in the wrong direction - away from the sea - there were growing fears about the fate of the injured calf as it battles for survival in London, hundreds of miles from its natural habitat in the wilds of the north Atlantic.