Singapore otters photobomb UK couple's marriage proposal

Singapore's famous urban otters have delighted two British otter fans by photobombing their marriage proposal.

Jordan Doyle and Mary Lister had gone out otter-watching with a wildlife photographer when the animals appeared.

"I'd had the ring with me for a while and Mary is a huge fan of otters, so I thought to myself, right, this is the time to propose," Mr Doyle, 28, told the BBC.

A group of otters then swam over to gatecrash the romantic moment.

"When I asked them to pose for a photo, the otters came out of the water and approached the couple," photographer Bernard Seah told the BBC.

"I was like, oh my god, I cannot believe this."

'Completely special'

The otters are part of a group known as the Bishan 10, one of several otter families thriving in Singapore's urban areas.

They have featured in multiple news outlets, a David Attenborough documentary and have whole Facebook groups dedicated to them.

Mr Doyle and his now fiancée Mary Lister are travelling around the world and had contacted Mr Seah, who regularly follows and photographs the otters, to see if he could help them see them while they were in town.

On Tuesday, they met up with Mr Seah and a group of other local photographers, who then led them to the Marina Reservoir in the city.

You may also like:

• Mystery of wombats' cubed poop revealed

• Wedding magazine shuts after LGBT row

• Erotic fresco unearthed in Pompeii

The couple broke away from the rest of the group for a while and it was then that Mr Doyle decided to propose.

"We didn't manage to capture the moment so I asked him to [kneel down and] propose again... Next thing I knew the otters appeared," said Mr Seah.

Mr Doyle said the otters were there for "around three minutes" and were "sniffing us so we had to stay very still".

According to Mr Seah, it is "not common" to have otters approach human for prolonged periods.

"I have seen otters approach humans but its never usually for a few minutes... it's never been this long."

Mr Doyle said the photo would be one that will "go down in our photobooks".

"I didn't plan it and it turned out completely special."