UK: Archaeologists Discover 200-Year-Old Skeleton of London's "Moby Dick" Washed Up on Banks of the Thames

Scientists have discovered the bones of a gigantic whale that was the size of the legendary Moby Dick and which was abandoned on the banks of the Thames more than 200 years ago.

The headless skeleton of the rare North Atlantic right whale weighs around half a tonne, is 52 feet long and around 13 feet wide. The huge skeleton is believed to date back to the 17th or 18th Century and remained in such good condition because the river mud preserved it.

Scientists believe that when it died at Greenwich it was between 50 and 100 years old and that it either became stranded on the beach or was harpooned by whalers at sea and towed along the Thames.

However, the whale's position is not consistent with a natural beaching, say experts.

Whales generally beach head-first, or lie parallel to the shoreline. This animal was probably dragged tail-first up onto the foreshore, to allow Londoners access to the carcass for meat, oil and baleen. Its head had been cut off.

An area of bone missing from one of the vertebrae suggests that the animal may have been harpooned, or that gaff-hooks were used to secure the carcass.

The right whale's name refers to the fact that it floats when dead and has a high oil yield, meaning these enormous mammals were regarded as literally the 'right whales' for whalers to hunt.

The species - Eubalaena glacialis - is now threatened with extinction.

Francis Grew, Senior Curator of Archaeology and Archive Manager at the Museum of London, said: 'This is probably the largest single 'object' ever to have been found on an archaeological dig in London. Whales occasionally swim into the Thames, and there are historical accounts of the enormous public excitement they engendered. To have found a skeleton, which just possibly might be linked with one of those sightings, is quite incredible.'

Whale oil was used for lighting and whale bones were used in everything from ladies' corsets and umbrellas.

Individuals can grow to a length of around 55 feet and the head comprises up to a third of the total length.

Organized hunting began several centuries ago, and continued into the first half of the 20th century.

Before that the species was relatively common in the North Atlantic. Its range extended from north-west Africa across to Florida, and then as far north as Iceland and sub-Arctic waters.

The whale's skeleton is to go on display for the first time at the Museum of London Docklands in museum foyer until Tuesday.

© Roland Hoskins
Tracey Heath from the Natural History Mammal unit inspects the bones before it is taken to the Museum of London to go on display

© Roland Hoskins
The skeleton was found headless but otherwise remarkably intact. It is the largest object ever to be discovered in an archaeological dig by the Thames

After display the skeleton will be transported to its new home at the Natural History Museum, where it will be carbon-dated and used by researchers to understand more about this endangered species.

Scientists can use the bones to extract DNA and stable isotopes, which can provide information about genetic diversity, distribution in the ocean and feeding strategies.

Richard Sabin, Senior Curator of Mammals at the Natural History Museum, said: 'We are very excited about this as it is in such good condition and so intact. People from all over the world will be able to study it. I think would have been about 70 years old - in advanced age - because we've detected some signs of disease on the bones. Once it's at the Natural History Museum we will be able to extract DNA so we'll have a more accurate age then, and we will also be able to determine the sex as well. The North Atlantic right whale was a very slow-moving, visible mammal so could be harpooned easily by whalers. It's now virtually extinct in the east Atlantic so that's another reason this is such a find.'

Tim Bradley, Project Manager at Pre-Construct Archaeology Ltd, said: 'When the archaeologist on site phoned me to say that he had found a whale I thought he was joking.

'As archaeologists we're used to reacting to unexpected finds, but the size and location of the whale on the tidal foreshore made recovery particularly challenging - among other things it broke the suspension on our van.

'We're very excited to have made such exceptional discovery.'

© Stapleton Collection/Corbis
A 16th-Century woodcut etching of a whale being butchered on the shore. The London whale would have been stripped bare by local people