An Irish family have captured an incredible video of dogs becoming fascinated by dolphins in the sea around Skellig Michael.
Skellig Michael is an island off the coast of Co Kerry and hit the headlines recently as being a setting for the latest Star Wars movie.
However, as Irish holiday maker Noel Kelly said: “We didn’t need lightsabers for excitement out there!”
The Mayo man, was on a family holiday with his wife Louise, children Rachel and Shay, and cousins Sheila, Ava and Luke.
As they sailed around the Skelligs they were in for a special treat as they came across eight dolphins who decided to put on a show for them.
The dolphins had distinctive, sickle-shaped fins, which meant they were Risso’s dolphins, which are often found along the south coast of Ireland.
Noel said: “It was a beautiful day, and there were common dolphins around, but then we spotted these unique dorsal fins near the Skelligs.
“To my shame, I’d never heard of Risso’s dolphins. I thought it was a killer whale! I’ve since searched YouTube and every other website going and only found one other clip of a Risso’s dolphin bow-surfing.”
One of them swooped in to swim in front of the boat, surfing in it’s bow wave. It must have enjoyed the surf, as it did it on three separate occasions – for up to 10 seconds at a time.
But the fun didn’t end there. The family had three dogs on board the boat and all of them were fascinated by the by what they saw. They followed the dolphins around as they darted from one side to the other.
Noel continued: “They’re John’s dogs, and they seemed to attract the dolphin. He rolled onto his side and seemed to look up at them…’
“We also saw two minke whales and a seal eating its lunch on the way back. We didn’t need Star Wars that day!”
The family were enjoying their boat trip thanks to Noel’s brother-in-law- John O’Shea, who runs Skellig tours and fishing trips from Derrynane harbour.
Take a look at the video below.
Written by Michael Kehoe @michaelcalling