Loch Ness or London?

There's been talk of strange sightings along the Thames at night. One rumour tells of a creature so far only labelled “Classification Pending”:

"Witness a new life form living in the Thames... Only appearing at dusk, they develop into an apparition – like creatures of folklore before them."

I had to investigate, so armed with my camera-phone and notebook I took to the streets of London at sunset. By the time I got to London Bridge, as guided by my "Here-be-Monsters"-Map, the almost-full moon was rising slowly over the skyline towards Tower Bridge in the East.



My search began on the south bank, moving north over the bridge, keeping a close eye on the water below. I arrived on the other side of the river without spotting anything exceptional, but wasn't discouraged and decided to get closer to the water level by going down the dark, deserted stairway leading to the Thamespath.



After a while the icy night wind turned my nose into a red, runny block of ice and the thought of abandoning the monster-hunt crossed my mind, but then I saw something gliding through the water without a sound, not far from the shore. It was only visible for a moment, but I instinctively knew that this is what I came to see and quickly went back up to street level on the bridge for a better view.



I joined a small group of people already hanging over the side of the bridge, watching the water attentively. The air was filled with a sense of wonder as they whispered to each other and then someone broke the silence: “Look at that!”, followed by cries of “There it is!” and “Cool...”. From the depths a creature emitting a faint white glow emerged, first only showing glimpses of itself, later swimming just below the surface for longer periods of time before vanishing again.
I activated the night mode setting on my camera and chose a high exposure to make sure I got evidence of what I just witnessing. I filmed the dark river for what felt like ages, hoping for another appearance, the cold numbing my fingers, making it hard to keep a firm grip on my camera. Sure enough, the waves were illuminated once more, this time by two of the mysterious animals. Later they were even joined by a smaller, playful little one and for a moment I was wondering if this was London or Loch Ness:



For related sightings seen around London, like the perpetually sinking sailboat or the ghostly green outline of the old Blackfriars Rail Bridge appearing on it's former posts after dark:




Visit http://www.drift.org.uk/ .