Temže - čísla a fakta (Thames - some facts and figures)

The Thames is 215 miles in length from source to sea.

The Thames is England´s longest river.

The Thames flows through 16 cities and key towns.

The Thames rises in the Cotswolds Hill at Thameshead in the West of England; and flows in a west east direction to the Estuary and the Atlantic Ocean off the East Coast.

There are 44 locks from the source of the Thames to Teddington Lock.

From its source in Gloucestershire to Teddington Lock in south west London is non-tidal, a distance of 146 miles.

The tidal range of the Thames Estuary is up to 23 feet.

From Teddington Lock to the Estuary the Thames it tidal, a distance of 55 miles.

The Thames Catchment is also known as the Thames River Basin and includes 4,994 square miles across most of south eastern and western England.

A Catchment is the area of land that drains into a particular river system.

There are more than 190 islands in the Thames from Kent to Oxfordshire.

Thames islands are also know as Aits or Eyots and are mostly formed by dividing streams, silt and sedimentation deposits.

There are 18 major river catchments flowing into the main River Thames.

Of the 190 Thames islands, only 45 are inhabited by small settlements.

The Thames has 38 main tributaries.

The Thames tributaries include rivers, brooks, canals and numerous underground streams feeding water into the main river.

There are at least 214 bridges across the Thames.

London´s first solar powered rail station is being built at Blackfriars and will provide 50% of its own electricity by 2013.

There are at least 17 tunnels across the Thames.

The first underwater tunnel was built in 1843 and now houses the East London rail line.

There are more than 200 rowing clubs on the river.

During World War II the protection of the Thames was critical to the defence of the Britain; the river was used by the planes to navigate at night during the Blitz.

There are at least 60 active shipping terminals on the tidal Thames.

Seals breed and nurse their young in the estuary of the Thames and have been recorded as far upstream as Waterloo Bridge.

There are at least 125 different fish species in the Thames and 350 benthic invertebrates (organisms with no backbone that live at the bottom of the river).

Dolphins and porpoises also use the estuary and can be seen most in the summer and autumn months.

There at least 46 internationally designated Special Protection Areas and Areas of Conservation within the Thames River Basin.

Otter and water vole numbers in the Thames are increasing while the Euporean eel is declining. The rare short-snouted seahorse was recorded in the Thames at Greenwich during a fish survey in 2012.

Jellied eels is a traditional east London dish and is still sold today.

Eels arrive as larvae in the Thames from the Sargasso Sea, stay for at last 20 years to mature before they travel the 4,000 miles back across the Atlantic to where they came from to spawn