Londoners were stunned to notice something unusual splashing around in the Thames - and it wasn't a discarded bike or a reveller who'd missed their footing.
A group of what appears to be dolphins were spotted in Richmond-upon-Thames in south west London on Saturday morning, much to the shock of locals. It's thought the playful creatures had swum up the river before they were sighted miles inland. One walker was so startled to see them, he even considered calling the fire and rescue service in fear they'd found themselves trapped.
Footage of the creatures swimming near Richmond Lock and Footbridge was shared on TikTok, which has been viewed hundreds of times. I walked over the footbridge, went to the other side," walker James Moon told MailOnline. "One of the firemen was saying they’d got called out because they thought [the dolphins] had been trapped or they were in distress.
"They clearly weren’t because you could see them surfacing and messing about, the two of them close together." While bystanders claim the swimmers were dolphins, other suggested they could have been porpoises - which are much smaller in size, but more common in rivers.
Although rare, dolphins have been previously spotted in the Thames. Back in 2017, Olympic swimmer Andy Jameson had to do a double take when he saw the familiar dorsal fins poking above the surface of the river near Richmond. In August 2015, a survey by the Zoological Society of London found marine life was thriving in the Thames with regular sightings of whales, dolphins, porpoises and seals among animals inhabiting the river.
Beachgoers flee in terror after mistaking whales for vicious attacking sharks
The Thames was declared "ecologically dead" in 1957 amidst toxic levels of pollution rendering life almost unviable. But - despite controversies over the levels of sewage being pumped into Britain's rivers and lakes - efforts to improve the water conditions have seen a small return of marine life to the river.
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