SWIMMING WITH PORPOISE
Footage captures mysterious finned creature swimming through the Thames sparking claims it could be a dolphin
The incredible moment was captured by former Olympic swimmer Andy James in Richmond, South West London, today
THIS FOOTAGE shows a mysterious finned creature swimming through the River Thames sparking claims it could be a dolphin.
The incredible moment was captured by former Olympic swimmer Andy James in Richmond, South West London, today.
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He shared the clip on Twitter, writing: "Ok .... you may all think I'm mad, but I just saw a Dolphin in the river Thames at Richmond [embarrassed emoji] #DolphinAtRichmond".
It shows a dorsal finned creature emerging through the murky water for a few seconds before diving back below the surface again.
Andy, who won bronze at the 1988 Seoul Games, explained the animal had been going slowly up the river from Twickenham railway bridge and before reaching the boats moored just before Richmond Bridge where it turned around.
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He later tweeted: "I felt quite the David Attenborough on this morning's walk along the Thames ... I spotted a porpoise, a Dipper & lots of green parrots."
The video sparked debate online with people quick to comment that it was a porpoise, while others suggested it was a dolphin or a whale.
Blue Planet Society said: "It looks more like a harbour porpoise @Andyjamesonswim. But still an amazing sight 40+ miles from the sea."
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Martina Fowler tweeted: "Looks like a dolphin to me! Hope we're right. Well spotted!"
One Twitter user claimed to have already seen the mammal and said: "We saw it last week, think it could be a porpoise."
Another user simply wrote: "Shark?"
Michelle Young replied to Andy's tweet saying: "to be fair its performance looked a little like the final 25 of a 200 fly!!"
Andy responded: "It's been quite a while since I did one of those .. but I have to say it looked like it had plenty left! Phelps would have been worried!"
It's not the first time that unusual marine life has been spotted in the Thames.
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One of the most known sightings was dubbed the Thames Whale - a northern bottlenose whale which was found swimming near Battersea Park in 2006.
The whale sadly died from convulsions as it was being rescued and its skeleton is now on display in the Natural History Museum.
So far this year there has been seven reported dolphin sightings in the River Thames, according to ZSL Thames Marine Mammal Survey.
People have also reported seeing 12 harbour porpoises, 53 grey seals and 29 harbour seals.
ZSL has been collecting public sightings of these marine mammals since 2004 and they are frequently sighted all the way up to Richmond.
It comes after speculation a crocodile was spotted in the River Thames - though it turned out to be nothing more than a deceptively tangled rope.
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