When 12-year-old Hamish, from Teddington, went out for a paddleboard session with his mum and the team at Active 360 Richmond, he got more than he bargained for.

A close-up encounter with a seal was the unexpected highlight of their day.

The scene was captured in a remarkable photo by coach and yoga instructor Sophy Aykroyd and it has turned Hamish into a mini celebrity.

Hamish said they were paddling around one of the islands opposite Richmond Riverside when they saw "something's head poke out".

He added: "We stuck around to see where it went and it started being very inquisitive.

"It came up to my board and got on straight away and sat on the back for about 10 minutes.

"It was cool. I haven't seen it in the Thames before.

"Lots of people have told me they've seen the picture of me."

advertisement

Hamish's mum Anne said: "It was just extraordinary that he was so curious.

"All he wanted to do was check out each of the boards. It was as if he just wanted to see what the deal was because once he had tried them all, he swam off."

Active 360 Richmond let the group extend their paddleboard session for about 45 minutes so they could complete the planned route.

Co-manager Nigel Muir said he and his team have spotted a seal on a multiple occasions over the last couple of years, but never two seals together.

"We've photographed it quite a few times," he said, "but that's the best photo I think I've seen of it."

It is great to have a more positive seal story after the events of the last couple of weeks.

We have been covering the shocking story of the dead seal left by the bank near Teddington.

Read more about it HERE

advertisement

This story was brought to you in conjunction with our sister site Richmond Nub News who you can check out HERE