A walker has been left shocked after spotting a chunky seal “trying to get to Waitrose” on a Thames pavement path.
Mia’s evening stroll took a wild turn after another passerby informed her of the unexpected guest.
The huge mammal was casually resting on a walkway between Richmond Kew and alongside the Old Deer Park.
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The 28-year-old from Twickenham could not believe her eyes..
She captured a video of the moment on Tuesday (20 Jan), which was later shared on Instagram, where it has over 13,900 likes – and plenty of comments from bemused viewers making friendly fat jokes.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Mia told What’s The Jam.
“Before it was even in my sight, another member of the public coming from the opposite direction excitedly let me know that there was a seal resting up ahead on the path as he had just walked past it.
“As I walked up to the seal, it looked like it was resting.
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“When I got closer, it moved its head like in the short video and generally appeared to be content and not distressed.”
Members of the public were left in stitches by the discovery.
“Why does the cool shit happen when I’m not about?,” said one person.
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“Translation: keep your dogs on a lead in this area. Let’s not have a repeat of what happened last time,” added someone else.
Another viewer said: “They should probably seal off the path.”
Someone else said: “I love to see exes thriving.”
“Still carrying that Xmas weight I see,” joked another person.
Lawrence joked: “Don’t film me without my permission on my morning run x.”
Another person said: “My guy was just trying to get Waitrose.”
Mia added: “At first I was surprised as the only other time I had seen a seal was from afar in Cornwall by the sea.
“This soon turned to awe at seeing such an incredible animal in the wild – and particularly so close to London.”
Thames Seal Watch also commented on the post, sharing that the seal is actually a regular – and is healthy for its size.
Thames Seal Watch added: “This seal is known to us. This is typical behaviour of a resting seal and he looks(at least his weight) very healthy. The biggest threat to him is the public and pets so do keep distance and dogs on lead. If he pops up again in a public place please call the BDMLR hotline and medics can come to make sure he remains safe and give the public a heads up to put dogs on lead. Please call quickly and do not wait until you get home to ring. Thank you.”
