River Thames & some WIldlife
Untagged baby seal, Twickenham.
The video below took place a bit further upstream than Kew, next to the grounds of Syon House. This was in June of 2020 just after the first Lockdown was partially lifted. The picture of the puppy seal was taken only a few days later by Twickenham. That was the second week single scullers were allowed to row on the river.
The adult seal spent a good 15 minutes with me and my rowing buddy Salvatore, climbing on and off our boats. At one point I even rowed a few strokes and he/she was quite happy to get a ride. The puppy seal was just basking in the sun, probably waiting for its mum. The following week I was interviewed on the BBC and the footage was shown as part of an article talking about the re-wilding observed by biologists during the Lockdown period. As human activity on river traffic diminished, wildlife seemed to have filled the vacuum.
Besides more seal activity, one day I spotted a line of 24 young Canadian geese following a matriarch (previously largest group I had seen were probably 7 or 8). After the second Lockdown imposed in England was lifted, back on the river, I observed a greater quantity of herons, a typically solitary bird, gathered in groups. At Brentford Eyot one could see, their huge nests up high in the trees.
The river is again busy, and wildlife seems to have settled once more to pre-pandemic numbers/behaviour, but the good news is that soon the Thames Tideway Tunnel will be completed (2025). The Thames contrary to what many people believe is a fairly clean river compared to other capital's waterways across Europe, however when it rains heavily, the Victorian sewers designed by Sir Joseph Bazalgette, do overflow and it is calculated 39,000 million tonnes of raw sewage makes its way in the Thames every year.
We can be certain that when the TTT is operational, the Thames will become a lot cleaner and as a consequence many fish, birds and other wildlife species will grow in numbers. That will mean more seals and herons. The Zoological Society of London in 2017 recorded 1,104 harbour seals and 2,406 grey seals across the estuary, east of London, however a few of them make the trek upriver beyond Westminster, most likely in search of food.
The adult male seal in my video had a plastic tag on its fin whilst the pup didn't, an indication it was born in Richmond. Besides the distressing news of the seal killed by a dog by Hammersmith Bridge, a few months after these encounters, seal sightings have considerably gone up over the last few months. I have seen at least two large harbour seals swimming downstream.
Keep your eyes peeled whilst walking on the towpath! If you spot one you can report it here: https://www.zsl.org/thames-marine-mammal-map
