Sir "The sea is dark and deep and cold but it contains the warmest blood of all, the blood of Whales." D.H. Lawrence's haunting and thought-provoking words resonate even more strongly following the weekend's dramatic and heartfelt events in London. The plight of the bottle-nosed whale which sadly died on Saturday following its stranding in the River Thames has certainly captured the hearts and minds of the British public. Whatever the reasons for the whale ending up thousands of miles away from its normal environment in the deep Atlantic, it did at least allow us a privileged close-up glimpse of the life of our intelligent fellow mammals, which despite living in the oceans, breathe the same air as us, give birth to and care for live young and rely on their own complex language of whale-song. Our team of experts can be proud of their tremendous efforts to save the animal, but we should remember that, unbelievably, whales around the world face a daily struggle for survival - from the threat of whaling by Japan, Norway and other countries to the problem of pollution and increased noise in the ocean. Hopefully the friend who symbolically visited the Houses of Parliament at the start of 2006 will come to be remembered as an ambassador for all whales and will help foster a better understanding and appreciation of these truly exceptional animals from the deep, which in D H Lawrence's words, may yet prove "the warmest blood of all". Cllr Nick Ramsay (Raglan)
