Our Sunday morning paddlers came face to face with a self-confessed mermaid last month. The mermaid AKA, open water swimmer, Lindsey Cole, swam past them while on course to complete her 200 mile swim of the Thames to raise awareness of the environmental effects of single-use plastic.
Lindsey took to the water at the beginning of November in a wetsuit, tail and woolly hat about 20 miles from the source of the river at Lechlade, Gloucestershire, and is describing herself as an “Urban Mermaid” as she is appealing to passers-by to litter pick and add to her mermaid sculpture that is being towed by her support canoe.
It is thought that by the end of their travels (Teddington) that they will have created a giant mermaid sculpture made out of plastic bottles that is representative of how we are choking our rivers with plastic.
To find out more about Lindsey’s story visit the BBC News website