# London’s once-dead Thames now home to sharks and seals 2026-08-14T14:47:45+00:00 | World & Diplomacy | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet London's River Thames, declared 'biologically dead' in 1957 after decades of sewage and industrial pollution, now teems with sharks, seals, seahorses and eels, according to a January 2026 health check by the Zoological Society of London. At least five shark species, including tope and starry smoothhounds, use the Thames Estuary. The Greater Thames supported 2,987 grey seals and 599 harbour seals in 2024. The avocet, a wading bird extinct in Britain by 1842, has seen its tidal Thames population more than double in 30 years. The recovery came from tighter pollution controls, better sewage treatment and decades of conservation work, starting with 1990s water industry regulations. The Thames Tideway Tunnel, a 15.5-mile 'super sewer' fully operational since February 2025, had diverted over 20 million metric tons of sewage by June 2026. However, nitrate pollution is still rising, some fish populations are a concern, and summer water temperatures have increased 0.13°C per year from 2007 to 2024. ## Coverage - timesofindia.indiatimes.com Tags: London, River Thames, Zoological Society of London Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/londons-once-dead-thames-now-home-to-sharks-and-seals/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/londons-once-dead-thames-now-home-to-sharks-and-seals/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.