Young dolphin makes rare visit to River Thames in London

Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Visitors to the River Thames were treated to a rare sight around midday Sunday -- a young dolphin swimming through London.

Staff at the Thames Rib Experience, which offers speed boat rides from Embankment Pier, said the dolphin was first spotted around midday.

"The staff were at Embankment Pier and then one of the ladies, Lottie, spotted the Dolphin and then every time as it went a bit quiet, when there weren't a lot of boats around, then the dolphin would pop out of the water," Charlotte McGlinchey, a director at the company, told getwestlondon.

Lottie McCullagh, the staffer who first spotted the dolphin, said it hung around the pier area for some time.

"It was swimming around for a couple of hours, it was tiny, probably a baby. It disappeared underwater when the boats passed, and it only appeared when the water was quiet," she told ITV News. "We were really shocked. I've worked here for three years and I've never seen one here before, and my colleague has been here longer and she's never seen one either."

She said the dolphin was last seen swimming toward the Tower Bridge.