Two dolphins found dead on bank of the River Thames in West London
Video from Thames Rib Experience shows dolphin when it was first spotted in the water
Two dolphins have been found on the bank of the River Thames after one was spotted in the river last week.
A picture posted online showed one of the mammals near Chelsea Harbour after it managed to swim a significant distance into the capital.
Last week, an appeal was made for people to stay away if they saw the dolphin.
The creature was seen several times from late morning on Thursday, and was described as appearing to be “struggling with the tide”.
Another dolphin was discovered on the riverbank in Greenwich, but the time of its death is unknown, as reported by BBC News.
A Port of London Authority spokesperson said: “We are aware of reports of two dolphins that sadly died. We are working with the Cetaceans Stranding Investigation Programme and will recover the animals.”
British Divers Marine Life Rescue was monitoring the dolphin and asked for people to get in touch if they saw it over the coming days.
Speaking last week, Operations Director Julia Cable said: “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.”
She hoped the dolphin would eventually find its way out towards the Thames Estuary and all they could do was monitor the animal and hope people stayed away.
“They’re used to being out in open water, with all of the noise on the river going on, for an animal it’s very confusing,” Julia Cable added.
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