Bann fish attract aquatic visitor

Crowds watch the porpoise from the footbridge in Coleraine town centre.

The people of Coleraine are well used to welcoming visitors to the area in the summer - but nobody was prepared for the aquatic visitor who swam into town on Wednesday.

Afternoon shoppers rushing across the Millennium footbridge in the town centre stopped in their tracks when they noticed a harbour porpoise in the River Bann below them.

According to the Northern Ireland Environment Agency, the mammal is healthy, and swam upstream to take advantage of particularly high stocks of fish in the river.

"We observed the animal for over two hours, and it appeared to be feeding and stayed in the vicinity of the old Coleraine bridge during this period," a spokesperson from the NIEA said.

"Its behaviour suggests that the animal was not in distress."

The body are continuing to monitor the health and wellbeing of the porpoise.

Porpoises are a relatively common species around the coasts of Northern Ireland.