Children's author Sir Michael Morpurgo has written a touching poem about the plight of the minke whale which became stuck in Richmond and Teddington Locks and sadly lost its battle for life earlier this week.

You can read the RNLI's poignant tribute to the whale here.

Sir Michael, whose 2009 fictional book This Morning I met a Whale tells the story of a whale which swam up the Thames, recited the poem for the first time today on BBC Radio Four's Today Programme, just before 9am.

The poem is called A Song for Minke, and includes footage of the whale near the Weir, at Teddington Lock, the rescue attempts by the RNLI and other experts, and the crowds of onlookers gathered near the Flying Cloud Café and Teddington Footbridge.

The emotional words include: 'Won't You swim, Minke, Swim, Won't You Blow Minke, Blow."

You can watch Sir Michael read his tribute to the most famous whale in the land in the video above, or on the BBC Twitter feed here.

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The minke whale is now stuck in Teddington.

The whale became trapped near the bank under a local cafe.

The veterinary team made the difficult decision to euthanise the whale.