Porpoise spotted in River Ouse between Selby and Naburn

8:47am Wednesday 7th October 2009

By Richard Harris

The mammal, more commonly associated with the ocean than a river 50 miles inland, was spotted by a couple on a pleasure cruiser on the stretch of river between Selby and Naburn.

There have since been reports of it in the river near Selby’s old Toll Bridge.

While ducks, geese, swans and herons are common sightings around the waterways, a number of rare sightings are made each year by members of the public including seals and, in this case, a porpoise.

Jonathan Hart-Woods, environment manager for British Waterways Yorkshire said: “It’s anticipated that the porpoise followed a shoal of fish out of its saltwater environment into the River Ouse. It is not common for these animals to venture up into the inland waterways although we do have a number of sightings every year of porpoises and seals on the Ouse as well as the River Aire.”

Mr Hart-Woods said the RSPCA had been contacted in the past about such sightings and their advice had always been that the mammals would usually find their way back to the sea once the food supply they have been pursuing has escaped or been consumed.

He said: “We believe the increase in large predatory marine mammals in our estuarine rivers and inlets may well be linked to the passage of large migratory fish as they move from the seas into our inland freshwater courses as they return to breed.

“The increase in the number of sightings we are receiving would suggest that numbers of these fish are slowly increasing. We thank the couple who contacted us to explain their sighting as it helps us to monitor and record common, rare and non-native species and help us work out why, where and when these sightings are occurring which helps us to establish a pattern to this behaviour.

“We rely on our boaters, anglers and other regular visitors to our waterways to act as our ears and eyes out on the banks as there are many enthusiastic wildlife observers regularly out on the water taking an avid interest in the varied wildlife on the BW network. All these reports help us to compile data on the varied biodiversity around the waterways.”

The last unusual visitor to be spotted in the Ouse was a seal in January of this year while a seal pup was found in a field near Escrick in December. The most famous seal in the Ouse was probably Sammy who took up residence in Linton Lock, north of York, in 2002, and stayed for months.

* Have you seen the porpoise? Phone newsdesk on 01904 653051, or text your photograph to 8360 and put the word York in the text box and a bit about yourself and then attach the picture.