'Beached whale' draws attention on the banks of the Thames

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This Sperm whale caused a bit of a stir when it appeared on the banks of the River Thames recently.

The life-size fibreglass replica was installed the day before the opening of the Greenwich and Docklands International Festival, which ran from June 21-29.

The 17-metre long whale was surrounded by performers who dressed as scientists and pretended to be conducting investigations on the corpse. Large numbers of people stopped to ask what was going on.

It was the work of a Belgian arts collective called Captain Boomer and its aim was to draw attention to London's whaling history and the increasing number of whales and dolphins spotted around the UK coastline.  

It was later moved to the lawns of the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, southeast London for the remainder of the festival.

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