‘Extremely unlikely’ that video of Galway Bay dolphin is Fungie

A dolphin jumping in Galway Bay. Picture: Stiophán Mac Suibhne

A West Cork whale watcher has dashed hopes that a dolphin spotted in Galway is the missing Fungie.

The famous Dingle dolphin went missing in 2020, with many fearing the worst for Ireland’s most well-known mammal.

Over the weekend, a video of a dolphin jumping in the waves at Galway Bay sparked hope that it might be the famed Kerry resident.

 

Nic Slocum, from Whale Watch West Cork, said that it is very unlikely that the dolphin spotted in Galway is Fungie.

Speaking to the  Irish Examiner, Mr Slocum said it is difficult to be “absolutely sure” whether or not it was Fungie.

“The video was shot into the sun, so of course it just looked all dark and you couldn’t see any particular colouration on the animal.

“The most likely [explanation] is that it is a short beak common dolphin. They jump a lot [in West Cork] and are very common up the west coast.

“It is conceivable that it is Fungie but it didn’t look quite big enough.” 

Fungie jumps in Dingle Bay. File picture: Sean Manion/RollingNews.ie

Mr Slocum said that bottlenose dolphins, like Fungie, are much bigger than the short beak common dolphins.

“They both jump, and they both jump in that way. And I know everybody got a little bit excited because they thought it might be Fungie showing himself again.

“From my perspective, I would say that it is extremely unlikely to be Fungie and far more likely to be a short beak common dolphin.” 

When asked about what he thinks happened to Fungie, Mr Slocum said that there are two aspects to the question.

“One is that he was getting quite old,” he said, adding that Fungie was getting to what “we believe is the normal lifespan” for the species.

“The reality is that he could have died. He could have just moved on and shuffled off this mortal coil.

Wild animals just do that – they just disappear and probably die.” 

Mr Slocum said that while there had been no sign of him being washed up on beaches, the large percentage of animals who die at sea “would sink to the bottom”.

Mr Slocum said that the other aspect is that Fungie “just moved on”.

He highlighted a Welsh dolphin who he swam with “years ago” saying that the dolphin hung around for a few years before he disappeared.

The whale watcher said that they don’t know what makes dolphins like Fungie solitary.

“What happens in a normal pod is the young males would stay within the pod until they become sexually mature.

“And then they might be driven off. They might move off to try and find another group.

“If they don’t find another group that they can be accepted into, we believe that we see them becoming these solitary dolphins.

“And we only seem to see it in bottlenose dolphins.” 

Fungie was named the oldest solitary dolphin in the world by Guinness World Records in 2019.