Fungie, the Dingle dolphin

© photo : Mathieu Morverand

click to enlarge

The Dingle Dolphin - or "Fungie", the name given to him by the fishermen - is a fully grown, possibly middle aged, male bottlenose, Tursiops Truncatus. He weighs in at around one-quarter tonne (500 lbs.) and measures in the region of four metres (13 feet). Although it is by no means unique to find these usually social, open creatures living alone in a "restricted" zone and befriending humans, it is still a relatively rare world event, and Fungie is Ireland's first recorded occurrence.