Onlookers at St Katharine Docks might spot an unusual sight for English waters as a giant hippo shores up for the next 27 days.

HippopoThames arrived in the Wapping dock on Tuesday night after a month long stay in Nine Elms on the South Bank.

Launching the Totally Thames season of river events, the creature will be taking in a host of London landmarks. The sculpture is the work of renowned Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, who designed the installation to be semi-immersed in the river so it can rise and fall with the tide.

Hofman’s sculptures often originate from everyday objects, but the design of Hofman’s first UK commission has been inspired by the prehistory of the River Thames, and the hippos that used to inhabit it.