Why is there an Arctic beluga whale swimming in the Thames?

The people of Tilbury in Essex received a shock this afternoon as a beluga whale was spotted making its way up the River Thames.

The mammal was seen off Coalhouse Fort near Gravesend and Kent’s Shorne marshes, where ecologist Dave Andrews tweeted his sighting.

“For anyone twitching the beluga, it’s been feeding around the barges for the last hour and hasn’t moved more than 200 metres in either direction. Still present,” he wrote.

Can’t believe I’m writing this, no joke – BELUGA in the Thames off Coalhouse Fort @RareBirdAlertUK pic.twitter.com/6VtrJ1PVc6

— Dave Andrews (@iPterodroma) September 25, 2018

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