Two dolphins found dead on banks of the River Thames just days after one was spotted swimming through London

6 August 2024, 10:21

Two dolphins have been found dead on the bank of the River Thames, just days after one was spotted swimming through London.

Londoners were warned to stay away from the dolphin, nicknamed JoJo, after it was spotted near Putney Bridge, in southwest London last week.

Now, two of the seafaring mammals have been found dead on the banks of the river.

One was found pictured near Chelsea Harbour Pier while another was reportedly found in Greenwich.

Authorities are in the process of recovering the animals.

"We are aware of reports of two dolphins that sadly died," a Port of London Authority spokesperson said.

They added: "We are working with the Cetaceans Stranding Investigation Programme and will recover the animals."

Mary Tester, a volunteer with British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR), told the BBC that these dolphins may have been from the same pod.

Read More: 'Alarmingly high' levels of E.coli found in River Thames just days before Henley regatta

Read More: Some-fin in the water: Moment 'shark' is spotted lurking in River Thames

She said: "Normally when we have seen dolphins in the past they have been around Greenwich or Canary Wharf, so for them to be spotted this far up the river is quite odd and so many sightings in quick succession - that has never happened before."

Speaking to the Standard, she added: “This is kind of a new phenomenon that seems to be increasing, and isn't really showing any signs of slowing up. Because it's new we don't have a rescue protocol in place for this.”

The group was monitoring the dolphin and asked for people to get in touch if they see it over the coming days.

The BDMLR’s Julia Cable said the animal appeared to be struggling to combat the tides when it was first spotted.

Ms Cable said: "It was still in the area throughout the evening but its behaviour wasn't really changing so we didn't continue monitoring it too late.

"It's too far really for a dolphin to be up the river. We do get them up there, this was a solitary one.

"It wasn't really moving very far, it did appear to be struggling with the tide."