IN PHOTOS: the tale of the Teddington whale

Exclusive new photos from local resident Emma Durnford tell the story of a whale which became stranded at Teddington Lock yesterday.

The baby minke calf had swum up the Thames and got trapped at Richmond Lock the night before, but escaped from rescuers and swam downstream towards Isleworth.

It was first seen in Teddington at 11am and caused considerable excitement in the town, with residents lining the bridge and banks in their hundreds to catch a glimpse of fin.

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Sad ending for Teddington Lock whale

A lifeboat from Teddington RNLI was launched and national media crews were on the scene as the whale circled Teddington Weir, often popping up to get some air to gasps from the crowd.

But the story soon turned tragic as the whale became stuck in the undergrowth by a river wall at the Flying Cloud Café.

Medics from the British Divers and Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) attended and RNLI crew constructed a pontoon to reach the whale which was slowly starting to become beached by the outgoing tide.

Police secured the area but members of the public and media crews continued to watch rescuers' progress from the bridge and a nearby grassy hill.

Sadly, at around quarter to 5 the BDMLR released a statement confirming that it planned to euthanise the whale as its condition was quickly deteriorating and it had lost a lot of strength.

Later that evening the calf was put to sleep by specialist marine medics.

Teddington residents took to social media to express their condolences, with many paying tribute to the efforts of the RNLI.

Teddington Parish wrote on Twitter: "So sad to hear that despite all the hard work of our friends from @RNLITeddington, experts and help from #Teddington volunteers it wasn't possible to save the stranded whale."

And Maria Yamauchi tweeted: "As a Teddington resident, the Thames #whale news is very sad but hats off to the @RNLI and @rnli_teddington for their efforts to try & save it.

""Rescuing baby whale far from home" can't be on many job descriptions. Thank you RNLI. #savinglivesatsea."

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