It was moving to witness the attempts to rescue the whale stranded in the River Thames over the weekend.

How sad I felt knowing that while the rescuers worked tirelessly around the clock and the country united behind their efforts, whalers from the Japanese fleet were in the process of killing about 950 whales under the guise of "scientific research".

Iceland and Norway are also guilty parties.

With images of our London visitor fresh in our minds, we must put pressure on these countries to end the senseless slaughter.

Please write to the embassies of these countries to voice your disapproval of their actions because there is no such thing as a quick and painless death from the harpoon.

-C Niall, Goring