a 15ft ( 4 . 5 metre ) northern bottle - fronted whale has been spotted deep in the river thames in eastern london , uk . the " thames whale " happened to come up past the tidal barrier and under many bridge , stretching as far as chelsea before it turned around just before albert bridges . tv news personnel raced to provide raw tv views of the whale , and few viewers walked the banks of the river . the whale is reputed to be looking alive , after some feared that the whale may beach itself as it failed to do before sniffer pushed it out into the center of the river . normally seen in the north atlantic , there have been sightings of a second whale near brentford .
The River Thames flows through London.