{"id":38969,"date":"2024-07-26T11:46:27","date_gmt":"2024-07-26T09:46:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/79449ccb-30fd-46f2-8b9e-24b80cecd0bd"},"modified":"2024-07-26T13:26:40","modified_gmt":"2024-07-26T11:26:40","slug":"is-there-a-shark-in-the-river-thames-heres-what-the-experts-think","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/rss_feed\/is-there-a-shark-in-the-river-thames-heres-what-the-experts-think\/","title":{"rendered":"Is there a shark in the River Thames? Here&#8217;s what the experts think&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"rssexcerpt\">Video footage taken near Hammersmith Bridge in London shows what appears to be the fin of large animal moving through the water. <\/p><p class=\"rssauthor\">By <\/p><p class=\"rssbyline\">Published: Friday, 26 July 2024 at 09:46 AM<\/p><hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/><?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\" standalone=\"yes\"?>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><body><p><strong>Video footage, taken on Monday evening, shows what appears to be the fin of a shark moving through the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/go-outdoors\/historic-places\/discover-the-royal-river-thames\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">River Thames<\/a> near Hammersmith Bridge in London.<\/strong><\/p><p>The animal hasn&#8217;t been spotted since. The big question: is it really a shark?<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Shark spotted in River Thames\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ILEx8YzZrS4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The moment the fin of an animal was spotted in the River Thames. Credit: The Telegraph<\/figcaption><\/figure><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/wildlife\/marine-life\/basking-shark-hit-by-boat-county-kerry-ireland\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Huge 23-foot shark struck by boat off the west coast of County Kerry<\/a><\/li><\/ul><p>Sharks have been spotted in the River Thames before.<\/p><p>&#8220;We do have several <a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/uncategorized\/identify-large-sharks-in-the-uk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">species of shark<\/a> in UK waters, and you can find them around the estuary area,&#8221; says Jack William, Senior Aquarist at Sea Life London Aquarium.<\/p><p>The Zoological Society of London add that &#8220;sharks are a key part of the natural <a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/biodiversity-explained\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">biodiversity<\/a> [of the Thames].&#8221;<\/p><p>But &#8220;it&#8217;s highly unlikely&#8221; to be a shark, says William. &#8220;That far up the Thames the water is extremely fresh. It doesn&#8217;t start getting salty until about Chelsea.&#8221;<\/p><p>Most shark species need salt water to stay alive, so it&#8217;s &#8220;unlikely that any sharks would swim that far upstream,&#8221; says The Port of London Authority, the trust that governs the Port of London.<\/p><p>If it is a shark, it&#8217;s thought it could be a tope shark, reported Helen Drew during a BBC investigation. Harmless to humans, this slender and elegant shark species is often found close to shore all around the UK and can grow up to 6 feet long. The species &#8220;has been seen in the Thames Estuary before,&#8221; says Drew.<\/p><p>It&#8217;s not the first time <a href=\"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/wildlife\/marine-life\/largest-sea-animals\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">large marine animals<\/a> have been spotted in the Thames before. The Port of London Authority says the Thames has an &#8220;abundance of aquatic life with occasional visits from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/wildlife\/marine-life\/bottlenose-dolphin-guide\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">dolphins<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/wildlife\/marine-life\/guide-to-britains-dolphins-porpoise-and-whales-how-to-identify-and-where-to-see-them\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">porpoises<\/a> and even <a href=\"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/wildlife\/marine-life\/guide-to-britains-dolphins-porpoise-and-whales-how-to-identify-and-where-to-see-them\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">whales<\/a>.&#8221;<\/p><p><em>Main image: fin of a shark \u2013 not the individual seen in the River Thames. Credit: Getty<\/em><\/p><p><strong>More wildlife stories<\/strong><\/p><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/news\/new-dna-evidence-confirms-presence-of-big-cat-in-cumbrian-countryside\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">New DNA evidence confirms presence of big cat in British countryside<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/wildlife\/red-footed-booby-spotted-in-dorset\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Strange tropical seabird from the Gal\u00e1pagos Islands spotted in Dorset<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/wildlife\/bioluminescent-plankton-wales\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&#8220;Surreal&#8221; bioluminescent plankton turn the Wales coast blue<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/wildlife\/marine-life\/by-the-wind-sailors-on-guernsey-beaches\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Strange blue animals are washing up on Guernsey\u2019s beaches. Scientists think they know why<\/a><\/li><\/ul> <\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Video footage taken near Hammersmith Bridge in London shows what appears to be the fin of large animal moving through the water. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":38970,"template":"","categories":[1,27],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"2"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/07\/is-there-a-shark-in-the-river-thames-heres-what-the-experts-think.jpg",2560,1707,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/07\/is-there-a-shark-in-the-river-thames-heres-what-the-experts-think-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/07\/is-there-a-shark-in-the-river-thames-heres-what-the-experts-think-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/07\/is-there-a-shark-in-the-river-thames-heres-what-the-experts-think-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/07\/is-there-a-shark-in-the-river-thames-heres-what-the-experts-think-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/07\/is-there-a-shark-in-the-river-thames-heres-what-the-experts-think-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/07\/is-there-a-shark-in-the-river-thames-heres-what-the-experts-think-2048x1366.jpg",2048,1366,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Video footage taken near Hammersmith Bridge in London shows what appears to be the fin of large animal moving through the water.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/38969"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}