Swan found dead in Victoria Park lake

19 August 2009

Dead swan (top) and the polluted lake (above)

By Julia Gregory Pictures: Joe Lord

A SWAN has been found dead floating on the lake at East London’s Victoria Park.

A full investigation is now under way after the adult bird was taken away by park rangers.

Experts from the Swan Sanctuary are examining another adult bird and cygnet at the lake which has been covered with green weed.

OXYGEN

The bird was spotted by June Beckett walking her dog.

She told the East London Advertiser: “There’s a problem with oxygenation in the lake.

I reported it and the Swan Sanctuary asked me to keep an eye on the lake.

“But I was shocked when I found this beautiful swan dead in the water.”

The water could harbour the toxic avian botulism, she believes, which might have paralysed the swan so it was unable to fly out of danger.

‘DISGUSTING’

Angler John Johnson helped bring the swan out of the lake.

“The water’s disgusting,” he said. “They could have cleaned this lake up a long time ago.”

Tower Hamlets council said today the water quality “has been found to be a good.”

The large fountain in the lake is inspected each year to ensure there is as much water movement as possible. The council has put an extra 30 bales of barley straw into the water to deter algae and blanket weed forming.