Dolphins have been spotted in the Thames on multiple occasions this week. They were first spotted near Greenwich and Canary Wharf last week, but more recently (Sunday, February 25), two adults and a calf were seen swimming alongside an RNLI lifeboat at Northfleet.
The marine mammals have been identified as short-beaked common dolphins due to their distinctive colouring and their dorsal fin curving slightly backwards. They are a protected species and can live up to 35 years.
According to reports, the pod spotted earlier in the week in Canary Wharf could have been made up of as many as eight dolphins. The RSPA commented that they were probably just looking for food, and would generally find their way back to sea again.
It’s not uncommon to see seals bobbing up and down in the river, but dolphins and porpoises are a rarer sighting. Back in 2017, a mammal thought to be a porpoise but fondly nicknamed the ‘Thames dolphin’ made the news after swimming over 40 miles inland, all the way to Richmond in west London.