Wildlife in the Thames! · Wildlife in the Thames! The Thames is bursting with life. Right under...
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Wildlife in the Thames! The Thames is bursting with life. Right under your feet there are eels and fish swimming around and maybe even a seal or two! ZSL is a wildlife conservation charity, working in the Thames estuary to understand and monitor the species that live here, so we can help to protect them. Did you know, the Thames is not only a river but also an estuary. An estuary is a tidal area where the river meets the sea, so you may notice if you travel on the Thames at different times, different levels of beach or foreshore will be showing at the side of the water. The Thames has an impressive 7 metre tide – how much of the foreshore you can see today? …………….metre/s Eels European eels are critcially endangered which means they are just as threatened as the mountain gorilla or giant panda. Can you complete the dot to dot to see what an eel looks like? mbnathamesclippers.com @thamesclippers /thamesclippers /thamesclippers Young European eels swim a huge 6,000kms from the Sargasso Sea on the coastline of North America to grow up in the Thames and then make it all the way back again to start their family. Baby eels are just 5mm long when they’re born, but can grow up to 1.5 m – is that taller than you? How tall are you? ………………………………… 1.5m
Transcript of Wildlife in the Thames! · Wildlife in the Thames! The Thames is bursting with life. Right under...
Wildlife in the Thames!
The Thames is bursting with life. Right under your feet there are eels and fish swimming around and maybe even a seal or two!
ZSL is a wildlife conservation charity, working in the Thames estuary to understand and monitor the species that live here, so we can help to protect them.
Did you know, the Thames is not only a river but also an estuary. An estuary is a tidal area where the river meets the sea, so you may notice if you travel on the Thames at different times, different levels of beach or foreshore will be showing at the side of the water.
The Thames has an impressive 7 metre tide – how much of the foreshore you can see today?
…………….metre/s
Eels
European eels are critcially endangered which means they are just as threatened as the mountain gorilla or giant panda.
Can you complete the dot to dot to see what an eel looks like?
mbnathamesclippers.com @thamesclippers /thamesclippers /thamesclippers
Young European eels swim a huge 6,000kms from the Sargasso Sea on the coastline of North America to grow up in the Thames and then make it all the way back again to start their family.
Baby eels are just 5mm long when they’re born, but can grow up to 1.5 m – is that taller than you?
How tall are you?
…………………………………
1.5m
mbnathamesclippers.com @thamesclippers /thamesclippers /thamesclippers
Seals
Two types of seal live in the Thames, the harbour and the grey seal. Can you spot the difference between the two species?
Circle what looks different on the pictures below
How many seals do you think are spotted on average in the Thames each year? ……………………………………………
Protecting our animal friends
Did you know that by 2050 there may be more plastic in the ocean than fish? You can do your bit to help protect our beautiful waterways by using a refillable bottle today!
What is your favourite Thames animal you’d like to protect? Can you draw it in the space below?
Thank you for looking out for our friends in the Thames today. If you see wildlife in the Thames remember to give them some space. We’d love it if you could report your sighting at zsl.org/inthethames. By doing this you will be contributing to our conservation work and we can continue to make sure that the rivers and oceans always remain full of wildlife. ZSL is a wildlife conservation charity dedicated to promoting and achieving the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats. You can find out more about our conservation work on the Thames at zsl.org/thames or drop us a line at [email protected]
Answers
1. Spots, face shapes, tails, whiskers and colours 2. Around 200 seals are recorded by members of the public every year, however there are over 1,000 harbour seals and 1,500 grey seals living in the Thames
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