International
Thames Whale dies during rescue attempt

LONDON, Jan. 22. (AP): The whale that was trapped in the River Thames died Saturday as rescue workers attempted to take it out to sea for release, Britain's Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said.

The northern bottlenose suffered a series of convulsions at 7 p.m (0030 IST) and had been struggling with the effects of being out of the water as it was ferried on a barge toward the Thames Estuary, officials said.

Swaddled in blankets on the rusting salvage barge, the mammals, watched by thousands in London as it spent two days swimming up the River Thames past some of the capital's most famous landmarks, had shown signs of increasing stress and stiffening muscles, an indicator it was in serious difficulty.

"We understand from the vet onboard the salvage vessel that the whale suffered a series of convulsions at around 7 p.m. (0030 IST) and died," said Katy Geary, a spokeswoman for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Earlier, the whale was hoisted out of the river and onto the vessel to be sped toward the ocean.

A crowd of 3,000 people at Albert Bridge in south London had cheered and applauded as the whale was tethered to a sling and lifted by a crane onto the "Crossness" barge.

The RSPCA said an international television audience of 23 million had tuned in to news reports across the world to follow the fate of the whale, the first of its type seen in the Thames since records began in 1913.