A Rotherhithe man has said how happy he was to finally take a photo of a seal swimming in the River Thames near his house after years of trying to spot one.
Kam Hong Leung, a nature lover and keen photographer, said he was out on his daily walk last Thursday (August 11), not far from where the Rotherhithe tunnel goes under the Thames.
Kam said that he saw a fire rescue boat go past quickly, scaring off a group of seagulls, who flew away.
“I saw a big black aquatic animal swimming on the water surface beneath the sea of flapping wings but was not sure what it was thinking that it might be a dolphin or even a whale,” he said.
“It turned out to be the seal that I have been looking for in vain for years. I was lucky to have my trusty camera with me and quickly tried start snapping but it was a fast-mover and not an easy subject to try catch a decent shot.”
Unfortunately, Kam, said, he was not that happy with the photos that resulted. But he was still glad to have seen the seal after all the years of searching the waters.
Suddenly he heard a voice from a flat behind him asking if he had seen the seal.
Kam said: “I could not hide my glee in telling her that I have finally got a photo after all these years but the smile on my face was quickly wiped out when came her follow-up question “With The Whiskers?”
“I knew right-away that she is accustomed to nothing but the best that life offers,” he said. But then another young woman came along and pointed out the seal close to the right. He quickly turned around and got two photos of the seal with whiskers.
Longstanding small business owner kicked off Rotherhithe site with private block set to be built
Kam was so delighted that he showed his photos to others on the way home, including Father Andrew Doyle, vicar of Holy Trinity Church Rotherhithe.
“11 August 2022 was a truly blessed and beautiful day, thankfully,” Kam said.
Locals have occasionally reported sightings of seals around the Rotherhithe peninsula. Seals have returned to the Thames in greater numbers in recent years, attracted by the higher numbers of fish, now that the river is cleaner.
Seals have been spotted 225 times in the Thames this year, according to the ZSL Thames marine mammal survey.
This year there has been a cluster of sightings in the area that Kam saw his seal, between the Salt Quay in Rotherhithe and Wapping on the north side of the river.
If you spot a marine mammal like a seal on land, do not touch it because you or hit could get hurt, ZSL said. Keep 50 metres away and put your dog on a lead if you have one.