We should have put stranded whale to sleep

THE Thames Whale was effectively "killed" by rescuers as they lifted it out of the water and onto a barge, it emerged today.

Rescuers have admitted that the move caused serious internal injuries, and the animal should have been put to sleep far sooner.

Rules from today mean whales will be killed with a lethal injection as soon as they enter shallow water and beach themselves.

"Saving whales such as the one that swam up the Thames is not viable," said Paul Jepson of the Institute of Zoology, who carried out the post-mortem on the whale and was on the boat when it died.

Tests revealed that the strandings had already caused terminal injuries to the whale.