Ireland - June 2003

From Jade’s Diary

Ireland is the last stop of Dad’s (Stephen) and my holiday in June 2003. We have come to Ireland to see the famous dolphin Fungie.

We arrived in Dublin and hired a car to take us around the island, although we are here to see Fungie a solitary dolphin that we have heard so much about.

The first thing you notice about Ireland is the greenery, the narrow roads and the friendly helpful people.

Our drive took us around Ireland North and South, but our main focus is the small town of Dingle (home to Fungie).

Once we arrived at Dingle we dropped into the travel centre in the middle of town to ask for information. We were put in touch with the local wet suit hire company where we were briefed on where to go to get on the local boat to see Fungie.

The next morning it was down to the wharf at 8.30am to get our wet suits on then onto the boat. Only a couple of minutes out from the wharf and I get my first glimpse of Fungie – a big fat dark dolphin leaping in the air obviously excited to see us.

As we move to the mouth of the river Fungie swims alongside stopping at times just to put his head out the water to look at the new swimmers.

Once in the usual swimming area, the anchor was lowered. Once again Dad (Stephen) was the first one in.

I knew it was going to be cold but that wasn’t about to stop me. The crew tried some interesting techniques to get Fungie to come close – rattling a chain in the water, moving a paddle across the surface of the water, revving the four stroke engine on the dingy and taking the dingy out to the mouth and back.

The water visibility here is about 2 metres and on this day Fungie was a little allusive for the swimmers but this is not always the case. Fungie is without a doubt the best known wild dolphin in the world today. His antics over the last 20 years at Dingle has changed this lovely town forever. Ireland has another wild dolphin near “Cork” called “Mara” but I don’t know how wild this one is.

Wild dolphins that prefer human company are very rare. The ones I know about are “JoJo” in the Cayman Islands, “Logo” in Western Australia and there is of course our own dolphin “Jade” in South Australia. But not since New Zealand’s famous dolphin “Opo” in 1955 has anything come close to Fungie.

Note: What not to do in Ireland – don’t pull over on the side of the road for a quick relief stop – you will be itching yourself for the next three hours (thanks to the stinging nettle bushes).