Daily Mail

Fears for beleaguere­d beluga Benny after his wrong turn UP Thames

- By Colin Fernandez Environmen­t Correspond­ent

FeARS were growing last night for the beluga whale spotted in the Thames hundreds of miles from its Arctic home.

The rare creatures normally swim in waters around Alaska, Russia, Canada and Greenland.

But yesterday the pearl-white whale’s hump was seen rising to the surface close to a jetty near Gravesend in Kent.

There was no sign of it returning home to the north Sea from the Thames estuary – and it had moved several hundred yards up river towards London from where it was spotted throughout Wednesday. It was later seen surfacing again nearby in the afternoon.

Close observatio­ns show no outward sign of harm. But Whale and Dolphin Conservati­on spokesman Danny Groves said it was a concern the whale was still in the Thames rather than heading back out to the high seas.

He said: ‘It may be a sign something is wrong with its navigation. The beluga may have been following a big school of fish and lost its way. They have to eat 3 per cent of their body weight each day, so ensuring it gets enough food is always a concern.

‘At some stage that food will run out and the beluga will get weaker. We hope whatever instinct took it to the Thames will take it out again.’ Boat traffic was a potential risk, he said, as was excessive amounts of shipping noise. ‘Whales live in a world of sound, and navigate and find food using sound,’ he said. It may also be at risk from eating floating plastic – common in the Thames – mistaking it for food. So far the whale, first spotted on Tuesday and nicknamed Benny although it is not clear whether it is male or female, appears unharmed.

But the waters of the Thames are warmer than the Arctic seas it is used to. Another concern is that the beluga, a sociable creature, has become separated from its pod.

Lucy Babey, head of science at the Orca charity, said: ‘We are surprised and a little saddened that it has resurfaced again – we had hoped it had gone out to deeper waters where it should be.

‘If that navigation system is impaired or there is a lot of disturbanc­e to its environmen­t, whether from natural causes or manmade noise, the animal will not be able to navigate correctly and can go off course.’

Belugas, which can grow up to 18ft, spend most of their time off the coasts of Alaska, Canada and Russia, though they often travel great distances in search of food – fish, squid and crabs.

Half the world’s killer whales could be wiped out within 30 to 50 years by a chemical first banned more than 40 years ago, scientists have warned.

PCBs, which were used in electrical equipment, are slow to decompose and still pose a deadly threat to animals at the top of the food chain, according to an internatio­nal team whose research is reported in the journal Science.

 ??  ?? Surfacing: Benny the beluga near Gravesend yesterday
Surfacing: Benny the beluga near Gravesend yesterday

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