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A MASSIVE search operation resumed in Kerry earlier today amid growing fears for the safety of Fungie, the legendary Dingle dolphin.
Despite a sighting of the common bottlenose dolphin Thursday morning, there have been no traces of Fungie in Dingle Bay on either Friday or Saturday.
Now, eight vessels have started a search for the third day of stretched waters around Cork’s West Harbor, where Fungie normally feeds and frolics.
He was not seen last Wednesday and despite the sighting Thursday morning by a local fisherman, there was no trace of Fungie on Friday or Saturday despite a fleet of boats searching for him.
The search has now been extended to a nearly 15km stretch of coastline off Dingle. This is much larger than Fungie’s normal activity area.
Fishing boats have also been asked to keep an eye out for Fungie in case it has followed schools of fish out to sea to feed.
Last Thursday’s sighting raised hopes that Fungie was simply avoiding its normal areas of activity due to the presence of other dolphins and even whales.
Fisherman Paul Hand said he was “one hundred percent sure” he saw Fungie last Thursday.
However, avid Fungie watchers fear that something is seriously wrong and that the dolphin is sick or dead.
The concern has been compounded by the fact that Fungie typically never leaves his traditional patrol zone for more than a few hours.
Dingle Sea Safari boat operator Jimmy Flannery said he looks nothing like Fungie.
Last May, Jimmy pulled his boat out at the peak of the Covid-19 lockdown just to keep Fungie company in case he felt lonely about the absence of his usual audience of fans.
“It’s not like him,” Jimmy said.
Another boat operator said that since Fungie arrived in Dingle Bay in 1983, he had never been missing for so long.
“Everyone is very concerned,” he said.
Also known as the Dingle dolphin, Fungie is a male common bottlenose dolphin.
First seen in Dingle in the summer of 1983, Fungie became a tourist sensation with his antics around pleasure boats and his clear love of being watched.
Marine biologists were amazed at the way the dolphin seemed to actively seek human contact.
The lone male dolphin tends to prefer to operate on its own, but loves to interact with boats, fishermen, and tourists.
The dolphin regularly interacts with people on the boats, as well as with swimmers, divers, surfers, and kayakers.
Fungie’s age is unknown, but males generally live between eight and 17 years.
However, in exceptional circumstances, dolphins are known to live for almost 70 years.
Fungie has also contributed to marine science, with his taste for Dingle’s needlefish being the first recorded case of dolphins eating the elegant fish also known as Sea Needle.
Over the past 37 years, Fungie has helped shore up a major marine tourism business in West Kerry with a dozen vessels offering dolphin watching excursions.
Online editors
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