Children's author Sir Michael Morpurgo has written a touching poem about the plight of the minke whale which lost its battle for life near Teddington Lock earlier this week.

The author, who wrote a fictional book called 'This Morning I met a Whale' about a whale which swam up the Thames, recited the poem for the first time today (13 May) on BBC Radio Four's Today programme just before 9am.

The poem is called 'A Song for Minke' and includes footage of the whale near the Weir at Teddington Lock, rescue attempts by Teddington RNLI and the crowds of onlookers gathered near the Flying Cloud Café and Teddington Lock bridge.

You can watch Sir Michael read the poem in the video above and hear him say the emotional lines 'Won't you swim, Minke, swim. Won't you blow Minke, blow.'

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