A pod of dolphins has been spotted on numerous occasions in the River Thames in London this week.
Surprised Londoners have captured video of them swimming in the river near Canary Wharf in east London.
They were also spotted by the Thames Barrier, and in the river at Greenwich on Monday.
And the pod of dolphins 🐬🐬are back today in River Thames, spotted second day in a row.
— Rupanjana | রূপাঞ্জনা (@RupanjanaDutta) February 21, 2024
A view from our flat near Canary Wharf today. pic.twitter.com/vrr0vov5Nl
@LBCNews Pictures of dolphins spotted in the Thames near Greenwich today!! pic.twitter.com/L9jf9GWNsG
— Chris Knight-Maunder (@chriskm70) February 19, 2024
One clip captured from inside a boat on Tuesday clearly shows one of the creatures breaching the water.
There are understood to be as many as eight dolphins in the pod.
On Wednesday, a resident named Rupanjana posted video on X captured from their flat near Canary Wharf, that clearly showed the pod jumping out of the water.
@metpoliceuk this was seen this morning on the river thames? can you confirm or deny if this a whale or a dolphin please 🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/6kEOKMH73Y
— jon paddy rourke (@jprourke) February 20, 2024
The clip showed at least two dolphins breaching the river’s surface at the same moment - one smaller than the other.
Another man reported seeing “around six to eight” dolphins as he returned home from the gym at Canary Wharf the same day.
It's not everyday in #EastLondon that you get to see #Dolphins swimming in the #Thames! pic.twitter.com/Xi8r6en5y0
— Niels (@hi_niels) February 22, 2024
“I only managed to capture three or four on video, but off camera I saw around six to eight, all clumped together as a pod making their way along the Thames towards Tower Bridge,” he told Metro.
Dolphins are a rare sight in the Thames.
Spotted 2 or 3 dolphins near the Thames barrier today #dophins #riverthames #thamesbarrier pic.twitter.com/5ngvP5Raz9
— Rob (@Bikeactivebob) February 19, 2024
In 2017 a cetacean - thought to be a porpoise, but which was nicknamed the ‘Thames dolphin’ - made headlines when it swam more than 40 miles inland to west London.
Locals keenly followed its journey, but it tragically dying nine days after it was first spotted, after getting into difficulty and becoming beached in Wandsworth.
Canary Wharf is the most likely location to spot large incongruous marine life, probably because of its high vantage points, the Zoological Society of London has previously said (ZSL).
The conservation charity said seals have previously been seen as far upstream as Hampton Court, with dolphins and porpoises sighted at Teddington Lock in south-west London.
