This print is inspired by the 1850 engraving ‘Monster Soup commonly called Thames Water’ by William Heath, a satire of a microscopic examination by Arthur Hassell of the water supplied to the inhabitants of London portraying the ‘monsters’ found in a drop of water from the Thames. Just 50 years ago, the Thames was so polluted it was declared “biologically extinct”, too dirty for anything to survive there. But sightings of various marine mammals and other species over the last few years confirm that the river is springing back to life.
There have been regular sightings of harbour and grey seals, dolphins and harbour porpoises, and of course the ill-fated journey into the Thames by the ‘River Thames Whale’ (northern bottlenose whale ) in 2006.