From our picture files 1984 (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

From our picture files 1984

4:34pm Thursday 15th January 2009 in Nostalgia By Gail Hébert

Seal pups appeared in the Richmond reach of the Thames. Sarah Credland seen sitting on the deckhouse with a friend on her converted Dutch barge at 4a Ducks Walk on the Twickenham side, was one of the first people to report sightings around the Flower Pot Islands opposite Askew House on Sunday. Port of London Authority staff who can identify individual adult seals by their markings, report that pups have rarely if ever, been seen before. Local riverman Ron Moore who has spent 26 years on the Thames, said the seals had a very good chance of survival. “They’ve never had to much fish in all their lives”, he said. “It’s the poor anglers you ought to worry about”. Dr Brian Bertram, curator of mammals at London Zoo, welcoming their appearance told the Times: “The greater variety of wildlife we can see, the better”. He said seals include predators such as pike in their total catch and should not go hungry.