Stunned dog walkers rushed to the River Mersey coastline to film what they thought was a rare pod of dolphins.
Families taking a break from lockdown in in Otterspool were treated to the rare sight, which experts have confirmed to be harbour porpoises looking for a tasty snack.
The magical moment was captured on camera by student teacher Emily Westlake, 23, who had been taking a stroll by Riverside Gardens when she noticed a gathering looking at the water.
She told the ECHO: "I was on a general walk and I noticed there was a lot of people gathered around looking at something in the water.
"I am not sure if they were dolphins or porpoises, but there were around 10 of them, quite close to the barrier.
"It was nice, you don't really see a lot of wildlife like that around here, it was nice to see."
Stefano Mariani, professor of marine biodiversity at Liverpool John Moores University, told the ECHO the creature in Emily's video was a harbour porpoise.
He said: "I live quite close to that area and I go running along the promenade, and I have never seen any myself.
"Anecdotally local Liverpudlians say they have seen seals and porpoises, but I have lived here eight years so it cannot be that common.
"The Mersey harbour is a primarily a cargo and commercial harbour so normally there will be a lot of traffic. Presumably there will still be ships coming in making deliveries, but because of the lockdown everything is much lower.
"The porpoise projects sound, they are very efficient hunters and they use sound to hunt. As the Mersey water is very murky they need to use sound to fish and the sound of boats and ships interferes with their efficiency.
"So it is not a surprise that if there is the loss of that sound they may go there to hunt."
