Brit volunteers failed to rescue the young whale lost in the the river Thames, but their efforts showed a national predilection to help the weak. They illustrate an unbridgeable gulf between the civilization of the West and the barbarism of the Iranian Mullahs.
Brits form associations that do helpful things, and it turns out that there is a group of divers dedicated to rescuing marine creatures:
Chairman of the British Divers Marine Life Rescue Group Alan Knight said: “We had a phone call from the vet saying that it had started convulsing and while he was on the phone it died.
The BDMLR is quite something:
BDMLR was formed in 1988, when a few like minded divers got together in response to the mass mortality of Harbour seals in the Wash area of East Anglia, to do what they could for the rescue effort.
From these early beginnings, they gained further knowledge of marine wildlife and acquired valuable training in rescue techniques. BDMLR now provide a committed 24 hour marine animal rescue service.
BDMLR now train over 400 volunteer Marine Mammal Medics a year and have 20 whale rescue pontoons located at strategic points throughout the UK, waiting to help stranded whales and dolphins.
Many others helped out, providing a large recovery vessel and medical expertise:
A rescue team of medics and vets had earlier successfully lifted the River Thames whale on to a barge. Blubber and blood samples were taken to assess the animal’s health. An inflatable pontoon system was used to support the 15ft Northern bottlenose whale before a crane lifted it out of the water close to Battersea Bridge in central London. The cost of the whole operation was expected to be between £50,000 and £100,000.
The Brits value kindness to animals and abominate cruelty to them – a mark of their civilization.
Browsing through the database is a remarkable experience. The victims come from all religions, nationalities and walks of life. There is the young girl who, by swimming in a bathing suit in her pool at home, was found guilty of “causing a state of arousal” in a neighbor and was lashed to death.
The moral gap between the civilized west and the Mullahs seems unbridgeable.