Little Grey and Little White

Who could have failed to fall for Little Grey and Little White, the two whales whose rescue story was told in John Bishop's Great Whale Rescue on ITV.

But did you know that a Beluga has visited London?

More on this below.

Held in an aquarium in China for 8 years, a mammoth multi-agency rescue effort means that both Little Grey and Little White are now back in ocean waters.

Photo by Steve Snodgrass

This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Little Grey and Little White are Beluga whales, a fascinating whale species whcich generlly live in the cold waters of the Arctic.

Here a few Beluga bullet points:

		Belulga are the only species of whale that is white.
		Belugas are closely related to narwhals
		Unlike other whales, Belugas do not have a dorsal (back) fin so helping them swim under ice more easily
		The Beluga smile means that they are one of the most popular whales to have in aquariums. Around 2,500 whales and dolphins are currently in captivity.
		Belugas don't have great eyesight. They use echolocation to find essentiial breathing holes in the ice above them.
		Belugas are about as long as an average car
		We're not sure how long Belugas live. It's probably between 30 and 70 years.

Photo by Greg Hume

This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

The Great Whale Rescue

Catch the series on the ITV hub

https://www.itv.com/hub/john-bishops-great-whale-rescue/2a6455a0002

Benny Beluga

A Beluga whale was spotted near Gravesend in September 2018.

Crowds gathered on the banks of the Thames in their bid to spot him and there were several sightings of him in the river over the next three months.

He appeared well and happy at each sighting and gave no real cause for concern, other than he was obviously a bit lost!.

premier.gov.ru

As sightings stopped around Chrstmas 2018, it is generally accepted that Benny successfully went back to sea in around January 2019, probably in search for more food.

What is very promising is that no Beluga body has ever washed up. This adds significant weigh to the idea that he went out to sea of his own accord and with success.

While waters are arguably cold in the Thames iin the autumn, they are not as cold, nor as teeming in fish, as they would have been in the Arctic, Benny's natural home. I wonder what brought him so far from home.

And I wonder if he will ever cross paths with Little Grey and Little White...

CLICK

for more whale sightings on the Thames.

CLICK

for an amazing whale sighting 

in South Devon