A stray dolphin was spotted in the Thames in London on Thursday and its fate has not been known since. A marine rescue charity urged people on Saturday to stay away from the dolphin if they see it, as it could further confuse it. It is the fourth time this year that a dolphin has appeared in the river that flows through the British capital.
The dolphin was spotted several times on Thursday in the Thames between Putney and Hammersmith Bridges in west London. The charity British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) said the animal appeared to be floating downstream, but there was no news of its whereabouts on Thursday evening. The charity has called for anyone to report the dolphin if they see it again.
“We hope it has found its way to a more sensible location towards the Thames Estuary. There is no way we can physically move it unless it becomes stranded. All we can do is monitor it, check its behaviour and do everything we can to ensure that everyone on the river is aware that it is there and that they stay away from it,” said the charity's director Julia Cable.
As she stressed, “the worst thing is that if people start getting closer to him, it could confuse him even more.”
Dolphin in the Thames Reuters
The fourth case this year
As Mary Tester from BDMLR pointed out, while the presence of dolphins in the area of ​​the river mouth on the North Sea is normal, their appearance as far away as London is completely different and is dangerous for the animals.
This is the fourth time this year that a dolphin has appeared in London. There are various theories as to why the dolphins are starting to swim upstream. It could be because of offshore wind farms that are forcing the marine mammals to move, or because the water quality in the Thames has improved in recent years, which has led to more fish and other marine life for the dolphins to eat.
In recent days, dolphins have also appeared in the Baltic Sea, in the Bay of Gdańsk area. Experts from the Gdynia Aquarium Education Centre confirmed that they were common dolphins, which do not naturally occur in the Baltic Sea.
Main image source: Reuters