A shocked woman has claimed she has filmed a ‘shark’ swimming down the River Thames.
Charlotte Webb, 25, was walking through Hammersmith Bridge, west London, with her friend Olivia Kaliszewska when they noticed something unusual in the water.
They managed to capture footage of what appears to be a fin streaming through the glistening water.
Having initially thought they had seen a bean bag in the capital’s river, the pair now believe they saw a ‘5ft finned creature’.
The fin is thought to be that of a tope shark – a critically endangered animal that can grow up to 6ft 3in in length.
In 2021, an assessment by the Zoological Society of London found that the River Thames was home to various species of shark, such as tope, starry smooth hound and spurdog.
Charlotte Webb, 25, was walking through London with her friend Olivia Kaliszewska when they noticed something unusual in the water
They managed to capture footage of what appears to be a fin streaming through the glistening water.
Ms Webb said: ‘I had no idea sharks swam in the Thames. I thought it was fake or a bean bag floating along at first.
‘My best friend Olivia said it was definitely not a shark and joked that it was a crocodile.
‘It looked around 5ft which makes it a tope shark according to the comments.
‘I absolutely hate sharks so it just confirmed my decision to never go in the sea again.
‘We carried on eating our sweet potato fries and thought it would be funny to upload it online.’
If Ms Webb did indeed see a Tope Shark, she and other Londoners will be relieved to hear that they are harmless to humans.
The long and slender creatures are found around all UK coasts, though more common in the South and West, and are identified by their grey upper body and a white belly. They also have two dorsal fins and a distinctive notched tail.
There has never been any record of an unprovoked Tope attack on humans, as their diet consists of a variety of fish species.
A London Wildlife Trust spokesperson said: ‘This is an amazing and uncommon sighting of a rare and endangered fish, one of five small shark species that are found in the tidal Thames.
‘None of these are a threat to people, and it is unfortunate that many people have become fearful of group of fishes with a very ancient history – they first evolved 450 million years ago – incredibly vital to our marine ecosystems and are now under severe threat from persecution and exploitation across the world.
The long and slender Tope Sharks are found around all UK coasts, though more common in the South and West, and are identified by their grey upper body and a white belly
‘London Wildlife Trust supports efforts for their conservation around British waters, for example the magnificent but endangered plankton-eating basking shark (second largest fish in the world) found primarily along our western coasts.’
After Ms Webb’s footage was posted onto social media on Monday, a number of users compared the footage to that of scary Netflix flick Under Paris.
The French film, directed by Xavier Gens, follows character Sophia (Bérénice Bejo), who works as a marine biologist.
After one of her colleagues was brutally murdered by a shark, Sophia spends five years attempting to find the animal.
She has no luck in doing so until environmental activist Mika (Léa Léviant) finds the shark lurking in the Seine just days before the World Triathlon Championships that were due to take place in Paris.
Sophia, Mika, and police officer Adil (Nassim Lyes) the joined forces to take down the creature.
The film was critically panned and currently has a pretty average 63 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer, along with an underwhelming 31 percent audience score.
