Sorry, which way is Dolphin’s Barn?
IF Dingle has Fungie, does Dublin now have Dolphin Barnie?
Commuters were flipping out yesterday morning after spotting a dolphin swimming in the River Liffey.
Software developer Darren Farrelly sighted the visitor by Dublin’s North Wall Quay and posted a video on Twitter.
Simon Berrow, CEO of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group, told the Irish Daily Mail they had a staff member watching the animal from the river’s bridges. ‘It didn’t seem stressed, it seemed to be surfacing normally,’ he said. ‘We couldn’t work out if it was foraging or not but we’re not sure what it would be feeding on.’
Mr Berrow dismissed a theory that Storm Diana had upset the dolphin’s sonar. ‘The common dolphin is very abundant in Irish waters but is less abundant in the Irish Sea, it enters the sea in the autumn, and it’s certainly unusual in the Liffey.
‘They are normally in groups so being spotted by itself is highly unusual but I don’t buy that it got lost in the storm. Long-term exposure to the brackish water isn’t particularly good for the health of marine mammals’ kidneys, but short-term we wouldn’t be unduly concerned.
‘We do have a stranding team there and we’ll wait and see what happens. But we’ve had dolphins up in estuaries for long periods and they’ve been grand.’
So, happy swimming to the Dublin dolphin!