" Thar she blows "

Contrary to the many reports of the Beluga Whale that conveniently turned up on our doorstep, its not been that easy to get a sighting. I have tried on three previous occasions all to no avail.

The River Thames as it passes through Gravesend gradually widens as it nears the estuary, there is a huge amount of river traffic, cruiser ships docking at Tilbury, container ships making there way up and down the river, Tug boats,  Port of London pilot boats, smaller pleasure craft, it appears a very unlikely setting to see a Beluga Whale, more at home in the arctic waters to the north, but here it is, making this little stretch of water at Gravesend its home for the last three weeks.

Another opportunity arose, and a chance to take my grandson on his first twitch, not sure if thats the correct term in this case, but that was the plan. The Beluga Whale has been frequenting the water front at Gravesend promenade, an easy place to access with a pushchair, hopes were high.


As we approached the waterfront I explained the enormity of the event, probably a once in a lifetime sighting which hopefully we could witness.


We took up position on the river wall first at the car park close to B&Q another one of the whales frequent haunts







I briefed  Ben my grandson once again on what we were looking for, in simple language, something large, something white, something in the water.

I'm not sure if he's grasped the seriousness of this "twitch"

The tide was low which was not helpful, no sign of the Beluga here, we moved on to the promenade where we took up position on a bench overlooking the river.

Still not a lot happening here in terms of whale watching, a few other people were checking out the river but no sign of the Beluga here.

Ben my grandson not the Beluga,  decided to leave the whale watching to me and decided to take a  nap.

I continued scanning the water front, not my favorite pastime, a little like sea watching, which I've never really enjoyed .

Fortunately there were a few birds probing the mud exposed by the low tide to keep me interested, all of which were Black Tailed Godwits, strangely feeding relatively close unconcerned by members of the public walking along the prom, a good sign of the cleanliness of the mud here, providing a feeding opportunity

Black-Tailed Godwits

Still nothing happening in the water, I took to a bit of people watching

"The Sad Man",  more on his mind than a Whale sighting.

"The Happy Man" more interested in the gulls

Back to the river and a bit of river traffic watching,  shows how busy the river is at this point

Another two hours, Ben still asleep, decided to call it a day.

  The following day and reports of the Beluga Whale feeding on the river again outside Poundland car park. couldn't resist it, once again hopeful of a sighting.

For some strange reason the Whale seems to be finding some food to its liking around the area surrounding a rusty looking buoy anchored  a short distance from the shore. 

Tide was high, and there it was a brief sighting as I moved into position. just breaching the water behind the buoy

It was quite hard to predict where the Beluga whale would surface, most of the sightings were of the slight hump on its back as it breached the surface.

 I must admit I had a strong urge to shout "thar she blows" each time the whale made an appearance, thankfully I kept it to myself.

I did manage to see quite a few sightings in the end, a bit of tail flapping,  and one occasion of clearing its blowhole which was great to see.

Its a shame my grandson missed it, maybe another chance in his lifetime.

 Hopefully this immature Beluga Whale will find its way out to the estuary and return to its rightful waters.