a 15ft ( 4 . 5 m ) white pitcher - handed whale has been filmed swimming in the river thames in northwest london , uk . the " thames whale " managed to swim up past the thames barrier and under much bridges , reaching as close as chelsea before it turned around just before the bridge . tv news helicopters scrambled to provide live tv footage of the whale , and many guests lined the edge of the river . the whale is said to be not healthy , except some fear that the animal may beach itself as it tried to do before trapped forced it back into the flow of the bridge . normally discovered in the mid sea , there have been documented of a second shark near paddington .
The River Thames flows through London.