The National Yacht Club's Mal Nowlan couldn't believe his eyes on Saturday afternoon when a pod of dolphins came into the harbour to play around his boat.
'I was calibrating my RIB’s compass when DBSC’s Committee Boat 'Freebird' came into the harbour after racing. I thought my eyes were codding me as I glimpsed something rise off her bow', Mal told Afloat.ie.
Dolphins have become relatively common in the Bay in recent years but they're still a very rare sight within the harbour walls.
'I watched and saw what I reckon was a group of five dolphins escort Freebird almost to the marina break-water before turning and heading slowly back to sea', Mal said.
Reports from Scotland say, from April into May, dolphins are widely expected as the migratory salmon run picks up a bit of pace and the dolphins arrange themselves around specific places. Perhaps this is a coming trend further down the Irish Sea now too?
The bottlenose dolphin is possibly the most socially active of the dolphin species that we get in the comparatively chilly waters of Dublin Bay. As the capital's waters have become cleaner, dolphins are popular visitors, so lets hope recent reports of murkiness don't turn them away.