cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/10005423

People out walking along the banks of the Mersey were treated to an amazing sight on Monday as a pod of what appeared to be dolphins were spotted in the river.

The creatures were clearly visible as they leapt above the surface of the water together at around 5pm in Otterspool.

The magical moment was caught on camera by Dave Evans, who was walking his dog near Liverpool Cricket Club when he spotted the pod “passing by so effortlessly”.

…

Dolphins and porpoises have been spotted in the Mersey before. Thanks to decades of clean up work, marine life is returning to the river. Speaking to the ECHO in in 2023, John Sanders from the Mersey Rivers Trust said: "We do have dolphins, sharks and other fish starting to return into the Mersey estuary, but sewage is a big issue, we’ve still got these Victorian sewer systems which when heavy rain arrives, overflow into our rivers.

In 2020, at the height of the covid lockdown, several people reported seeing a pod of around 10 dolphins in Otterspool. However, according to an expert, they were probably harbour porpoises, rather than dolphins.