Shocked woman claims she has filmed a ‘shark’ swimming in the River Thames.
Charlotte Webb, 25, was walking across Hammersmith Bridge, west London, with her friend Olivia Kaliszewska when they noticed something unusual in the water.
He managed to capture footage of what appeared to be fins running through the choppy water.
Initially thinking they had seen a bag of beans in the capital’s river, the pair now believe they saw a ‘5ft finned creature’.
The fin is believed to be that of a tip shark – an endangered animal that can grow up to 6 feet 3 inches.
In 2021, an assessment by the Zoological Society of London found that the River Thames is home to many different species of sharks, such as tope, smooth hound and spurdog.
Charlotte Webb, 25, was walking through London with her friend Olivia Kaliszewska when she noticed something unusual in the water.
He managed to capture footage of what appeared to be fins running through the choppy water.
Ms Webb said: ‘I didn’t know sharks were swimming in the Thames. I thought it was a fake or a bean bag floating along at first.
‘My best friend Olivia said it wasn’t a shark and joked it was a crocodile.
‘It appears to be around 5ft which makes it a tope shark according to the comments.
‘I absolutely hate sharks, so this just confirmed my decision to never go into the sea again.
‘We kept eating fries and thought it would be funny to upload them online.’
If Ms Webb has indeed seen a Tope Shark, she and other Londoners will be relieved to hear they are not dangerous to humans.
The long, slender creature is found all along the coast of England, although it is more common in the south and west, and is identified by its gray upper body and white belly. They also have two dorsal fins and a distinctive tail.
There are no records of Tope’s attacks on humans, as its diet consists of various fish species.
A spokesman for the London Wildlife Trust said: “This is an amazing and unusual sighting of a rare and endangered fish, one of only five small shark species found in the Thames tidewater.
‘None of them are a threat to humans, and it’s a shame that so many people are afraid of a group of fish with an ancient history – they evolved 450 million years ago – so important to the marine ecosystem that they are now under severe threat. from persecution and exploitation around the world.
The long, slender Tope shark is found all over the UK coast, although it is more common in the south and west, and is identified by its gray upper body and white belly.
‘London Wildlife Trust supports conservation efforts around British waters, for example the magnificent but endangered plankton-eating basking shark (the second largest fish in the world) found mainly on our west coast.’
After Ms Webb’s footage was posted to social media on Monday, some users compared the footage to the terrifying Netflix film Under Paris.
The French film, directed by Xavier Gens, follows the character of Sophia (Bérénice Bejo), who works as a marine biologist.
After one of her friends is brutally killed by a shark, Sophia spends five years trying to find the animal.
They’re down on their luck until environmental activist Mika (Léa Léviant) discovers a shark lurking in the Seine just days before the World Triathlon Championships to be held in Paris.
Sophia, Mika, and policeman Adil (Nassim Lyes) team up to destroy the creature.
The film was critically panned and currently holds an average rating of 63 percent on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer, along with a poor audience score of 31 percent.
