For those who watched from the shore on the night of Saturday, January 21, 2006, the plight of the Thames whale remains an unforgettable experience.

Having made a wrong turn in the North Sea, the magnificent 17ft mammal was the focus of a huge rescue effort to help her return home.

The valiant attempt to save her may not have had the happy ending so many had been pining for, but the sight of her passing by remains an iconic moment in recent history.

The bottlenosed whale had surfaced in central London the morning before and prompted worldwide news coverage. By Saturday lunchtime, news of a possible rescue attempt emerged.

Original suggestions of moving her over land or by air were quickly replaced with a plan to hoist her onto a barge and sail her down the Estuary before releasing her into the open sea.

Families in Gravesend began to flock to the riverside as it became clear her rescue convoy would pass the town early on Saturday evening.

The whale was hoisted onto a barge at Battersea which made its way down river, under the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge at Dartford and on to Gravesend.

However, just minutes after hundreds of well-wishers in Gravesend clapped and cheered the rescue mission from the river bank, news came through that she had lost her fight for survival.

The whale was later hoisted onto land at a pier on the Denton Industrial Estate.

Mark Stevens, who lives in Wigmore, Rainham, led the rescue with his team from British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) and described it as “a life changing moment”.

“My biggest memory is the number of people watching it and the goodwill of the people that supported us."

“It was a turning point for our organisation,” said Mark.

“We suddenly picked up a lot more volunteers who wanted to help us with our work and we get way more call-outs than we used to.”

Having set up BDLMR in 1988, Mark now finds himself regularly taking trips around the world to help sea life in need, from more whales to sea lions.

Despite still working as a full-time teacher in Maidstone, he’s been on rescue missions in Canada, Iceland, Turkey, the United States and the Falkland Islands, although nothing yet has topped the Thames whale in terms of the attention it brought to the organisation.

“After the event we realised how much television coverage it had. In terms of media interest it was the biggest rescue I have ever organised,” he said.

“I know how to rescue a whale but not how to deal with 20 or 30 reporters and snappers!

“My biggest memory is the number of people watching it and the goodwill of the people that supported us.

“Rescuing whales always seems to bring out the best in people and they wanted it to succeed so much, when it didn’t we all felt very disappointed.”

“When we were working with the whale, seeing all these people was incredible.

“Rescuing whales always seems to bring out the best in people and they wanted it to succeed so much, when it didn’t we all felt very disappointed.”

Mark was full of praise for the support his team received at the time, with much of it coming from Martin Garside and his crew at the Port of London Authority (PLA).

Mr Garside still works for the PLA and has similar memories of what he described as the “immense public support” to help the whale to safety.

“I went out on a patrol boat on a Friday morning and to my amazement there was this large, very beautiful whale,” said Martin.

“It could only happen here where you could get police, the BDMLR, the PLA, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), the coastguard and the fire brigade all working together to save a single whale.

“Behind us we had immense public support.”

One of the experts drafted in from ZSL was vet Paul Jepson, who was in charge of the medical assessment.

Despite years of experience, assisting in a rescue mission was something new to add to his CV.

“We don’t normally get involved in the rescue side, at ZSL we normally do the post-mortem of the dead whales,” he said.

“The public imagination and all the people out on the Thames... I have never seen anything like that, it was quite incredible."

“It’s actually quite unusual for me to get involved with the animal when they are still alive because – being in the centre of London – we don’t have the time to get out and respond.”

Paul and a team from ZSL joined BDMLR on the Friday, and he knew from an early stage that the whale was unlikely to survive in its unfamiliar surroundings.

However, even he couldn’t help but be caught up by the sheer will of the British public to see the whale make it through the night.

“There was so much expectation about a rescue and we sort of had to go along with it,” he said.

“The public imagination and all the people out on the Thames... I have never seen anything like that, it was quite incredible.

“I remember driving to do the post mortem afterwards and every front page of every newspaper was all about the Thames whale.”

Unfortunately, attempts by BDMLR to mark the rescue with a black marble tribute by the Thames have proved fruitless.

Despite paying £350 for the tribute Mark has been unable to get permission from Westminster council or the Mayor of London to have it put on display.

Not that the lack of such a mural has robbed anyone in Gravesend of their cherished memories.

Former editor of Gravesend and Dartford Messengers, Denise Eaton, said it was a story that she will never forget.

“It was one of those stories that will live with me forever and captured something in the town I’d never witnessed before and haven’t seen since."

Reminiscing on the coverage, she said: “It was one of those stories that will live with me forever and captured something in the town I’d never witnessed before and haven’t seen since.

“There were scores of bystanders lining the embankment that night just hoping to catch a glimpse of this magnificent creature and, I’ve no doubt, willing it on.

“The atmosphere among the crowd and all those involved in the rescue mission was so intense it was almost palpable.

“We all desperately wanted a happy ending that was sadly never to be.”

Locals of all ages immersed themselves in the battle to save her, none more so than school children left wide eyed by the sight of such a creature in their town.

Sophie Winter was just eight years old at the time and drew a picture marking the event at Shears Green Junior School in Northfleet.

A woman from Greenhithe, meanwhile, was one of the first people to see the animal.

Patricia Runham, 65, of Frobisher Way, Greenhithe, said she had never seen anything like it.

Reflecting on the sighting, she said: “It does not at all seem 10 years ago.

“My husband was at work and the window cleaner was here. He tapped on the window and said there was something in the water.

“We went out there and we thought it was a dolphin, it seemed in quite a lot of distress.”

“It was a magnificent creature and I hope it never happens again.”

Patricia was as upset as everyone else when it emerged that the whale was beyond saving, and it’s clearly still a touching memory for her.

“I really think that they could have done something more than they did to stop it going right into London,” she said.

“It was a magnificent creature and I hope it never happens again.”

There can be no doubt – even 10 years on – the Thames Whale is a vivid memory for all who saw it.

Even the discovery of a bigger humpback whale, washed up in Dartford just three years later, did not capture the imagination in quite the same way.

However, as stunning an image as it was, the eventual tragedy means nobody will be pining to see such drama unfold again.

To find out more about British Divers Marine Life Rescue, or donate to the charity, visit www.bdmlr.org.uk.