It is many people’s dreams to get up close to dolphins in the wild, and one Dingle woman gets to live out that dream several times a week.
Fungie the dolphin is a big tourist attraction in Co Kerry. He frequently swims around in the waters in Dingle harbour, and thousands of visitors pay go out on a boat and try to get close to him. More often than not, he obliges and swims up close to the boats.
There is one woman that knows Fungie better than most, Gillian May, who works for the company that takes boats out to see Fungie, Dingle Dolphin Tours.
In her spare time, Gillian also likes to go out and get close to Fungie herself.
On one recent trip, she captured some brilliant footage of Fungie swimming right up next to her boat as she leant out to look over him.
Fungie is clearly very comfortable around Gillian, as he spent several minutes swimming right up next to her boat with a playful glint in his eye.
Gillian told us: “I work for Dingle Dolphin Tours who take the bigger passenger boats out. In this video I am on small punt. I am lucky to get out a lot to see him and I get to see him pretty close a lot of the time.
“My friend Paul videoed us while out on his small boat. I work in the booking office that takes the passengers out to see Fungie on the bigger boats, but I love to go out and spend time with him myself. He’s an amazing dolphin!”
Thanks very much Gillian for sharing your incredible experience with us, take a look at the video below.