Residents and walkers were stunned when they spotted a porpoise in the river Colne in Colchester.
A harbour porpoise has been seen near the docks area at the Hythe Quays over the past few days.
People walking near the River Colne spotted the animal swimming in the waters, a rather rare sight.
Colchester resident Alf Mullins, 70, saw the sea mammal visiting the city on Saturday.
He said: “I saw a video of it and was told a couple of people on a boat saw it yesterday.
"And today I went down and found it again and walked with it for a couple of hours.
“I’ve only heard of one before which was rescued from the East Mill quite a few years back.
“There’s an awful lot of mullet fish in the river at the moment, so presumably it came and followed them coming in with the tide.
“It looked like it was actively catching something in the quay.
" I saw it catch a fish, at least I’m pretty sure that’s what it was doing there.”
Harbour porpoises, as their name suggests, stay close to coastal areas or river estuaries but rarely travel further upstream.
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