Sharks and seahorses found in River Thames, London’s famous waterway

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Sharks, seahorses and seals have been found living in the 215-mile long River Thames that runs through London, a study has found.</p>
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The State of the Thames Report, led by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), highlights that the famous river which was declared "biologically dead" in 1957 has shown a marked improvement since then with an increase in its range of birds and marine life.</p>
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The report said shark species including tope, starry smooth hound and spurdog live in the Thames and there are more than 100 species of fish in the 215-mile long river. There are also as many as 92 bird species.</p>
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However, the number of fish have declined since the 1990s, and further research is needed to determine the cause, the report also points out.</p>
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It states that water quality has improved, with dissolved oxygen concentrations showing an increase from 2007 to 2020.</p>
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But nitrates from sewage are getting worse – although that is expected to improve when London’s "super sewer" opens in 2025. The £4.2bn, 15-mile long, 200ft deep sewer will capture 39 million tonnes of untreated sewage that is currently flushed into the Thames every year, according to BBC News.</p>
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The report also expresses concern over climate change leading to an increase in the temperature of London's waterway by 0.2C a year. The rising temperature has meant water levels in the tidal Thames have increased since 1911, ZSL said.</p>
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The scale of plastic pollution littering the tidal Thames as well as thousands of plastic bottles, wet wipes is another area of concern highlighted in the report.</p>
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One mound of wet wipes in Barnes has grown in height by 1.4 metres since 2014 and covers an area of 1,000 sq metres.</p>
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“These products, many of which contain plastic, are physically altering the foreshore along the Thames by creating large mounds of sediment densely bound together,” the report adds.</p>