Hopes of saving the Thames whale are running out

Hopes of saving the small whale that became stranded along the River Thames are running out.

Julia Cable, national co-ordinator of the British Divers Marine Life Rescue service, said the whale is now completely stationary in the water up against a wall in the area of Teddington Lock.

She told the PA news agency the whale is "as good as stranded'', adding: It's not really going to come down to a rescue now.

Its condition is deteriorating. It's not acting the way it did last night. It's basically lost any energy that it had left in it.

It's also got another stranding injury which along with ones from yesterday all adds up really.

We're just going to make it a little bit more comfortable and we're going to have a veterinarian come down and take another look at it, and then they'll make a decision.

It's not looking like we'll be able to re-float the animal.''

First for all the latest news from across the UK every hour on Hits Radio on DAB, at hitsradio.co.uk and on the Rayo app.

• thames whale