Beluga Benny or... is it Belinda?

Marine wildlife experts have said that the whale in The Thames at Gravesend is feeding well and could be here for a long time.

Operations manager for British Divers Marine Life Rescue, Stephen Marsh has been working on the case since the beginning and said that it is suprising that the Beluga is doing so well.

He added: “At the moment we still don’t know if it is a male or female so it could be Benny or Belinda, but it is coping very well in the water.

“Beluga’s are opportunistic feeders, which means they have a wide range of prey and if it couldn’t find food it would keep moving until it does, but it hasn’t moved yet, which means it must be feeding from a very good pantry that it has found.”

Now that the weather is turning colder, Benny could become more adjusted to the estuary and stay there or he could get the call from the wild and travel back to the cooler waters.

Mr Marsh added: “Its a million dollar question about how long it will be here, as it gets colder it may go back to the north sea and hopefully turn left and head home. We don’t know for sure where he has come from because there are lots of different types.”

Experts have said that they won’t move Benny and whilst he is safe, will not intervene in getting him home.

The whale was first reported to be seen in the Thames in Gravesend back in September, but the first sighting was actually back in July in the River Medway.

Gravesend council have also postponed the annual fireworks display to keep him safe, with the hope of re-running it at a later date with a special Benny theme.