London’s river Thames is no longer ‘biologically dead’

The city’s famous waterway has been revived and is now home to hundreds of wildlife species including seals, seahorses, and sharks.

With COP26 drawing to a close, leaving activists exhausted, frustrated, and sceptical of the pledges made by world leaders, I’d say it’s due time we turned our attention to some positive news (unless you’re galeophobic, of course, in which case you may disagree).

As of this week, the river Thames is no longer ‘biologically dead’ – for the first time in over half a century.

This is according to the most comprehensive analysis of the city’s famous waterway since 1957, conducted by conservation scientists at the Zoological Society of London.

It found that clean-up efforts over recent decades have drastically brought down levels of chemicals such as phosphorus and conserved salt marshes for birds and fish.

For this reason, the 215-mile long river has finally been revived and is now home to a myriad of wildlife species – some endangered – ‘as diverse as London itself.’

I’m talking seals, seahorses, and sharks. That’s right, queue the Jaws theme tune…

‘This report has enabled us to really look at how far the Thames has come on its journey to recovery since it was declared biologically dead, and in some cases, set baselines to build from in the future,’ says researcher Alison Debney, who adds that the year-old project remains in its early stages, as experts seek to gather more data on three elusive species residing in the Thames’ outer estuary.

‘In 1957 there were long stretches with such low oxygen concentrations due to all the pollution that much of the river was devoid of life.’

Evidence of the Thames importance as a ‘breeding ground and nursery habitat’ for more than 115 different types of fish including smelt, European seabass and smoothhound, the report also states that water quality has exhibited ‘promising improvements.’

This is attributable to the effectiveness of advanced sewage treatment working to filter harmful levels of nutrients (namely Tributyltin, an anti-foulant that has a significant detrimental impact on shellfish) entering the Thames.