08 May 2024 , 11:45
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Passers-by have been left puzzled after one man spotted a “bizarre” sight floating in a major urban river.
Pedestrians near the River Mersey in Liverpool gathered on the shore after an animal, which looks like a dead sheep, was found floating in the water.
James Greer was stopped in his tracks yesterday as he walked along the city’s Otterspool Promenade near Cressington at 1.50pm when he spotted something over the railings. He told the Liverpool Echo: “It’s bizarre. I thought, what's that? It's definitely a dead sheep. A man and a woman stopped after me to look at it. Everybody will be noticing it.”
The sheep didn’t look like it had been in the water for that long as there were no signs of marks or decay on the body (James Greer)James said the sheep didn’t look like it had been in the water for that long as there were no signs of marks or decay on the body. He added: “It’s quite close to the shore because the tide’s in. It’s just floating about 15m from the railing. I’ve never seen anything washed up there apart from rubbish. You wonder where the sheep has come from.”
When contacted by reporters about the incident, a spokesperson for Liverpool City Council, who is responsible for these matters, said: “There is a process in place to ensure the disposal and safe removal of animals who wash up on the shoreline.”
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There have been more positive animal sightings in the Mersey in recent months, including dolphins and seals. Due to decades of clean-up work in the river, such sea life is becoming more and more common. John Sanders, strategic planning director at The Mersey Rivers Trust, said last year: “There’s a long way to go to get back to what the rivers were like before the Industrial Revolution.
"We do have dolphins, sharks and other fish starting to return into the Mersey estuary, but sewage is a big issue, we've still got these Victorian sewer systems which when heavy rain arrives, overflow into our rivers.
“Although water companies are investing significantly over the next 10 to 15 years to address these overflows by putting in large storage effectively to hold back water in the urban environment, it’s a long-term process.”