• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Dolphins seen leaping off UK coast in rare sighting

Home> News

Updated 10:28 28 Jan 2023 GMTPublished 09:32 28 Jan 2023 GMT

Dolphins seen leaping off UK coast in rare sighting

People have been lucky enough to spot leaping dolphins off the Yorkshire coast

Joe Harker

Joe Harker

Dolphins leaping out of the water just off the UK coast are a majestic sight, and fortunately in this case a wildlife photographer happened to be nearby to witness it.

According to the BBC, amateur wildlife photographer Andrew Cottrell was strolling along the beach at Hunmanby Gap on Monday 23 January when he spotted a pod of about 20 dolphins off the shore.

Cottrell spotted that they 'seemed to be having fun' in the water and got pictures of them leaping out of the water and reaching great heights in the process.

Since they weigh an estimated 500kg, it's incredibly impressive that they can propel themselves out of the water and leap so high, and it makes for a wonderful natural spectacle to boot.

Advert

Thanks to Andrew's photography, this amazing sight is available for everyone to enjoy.

It's true, dolphins really do leap out of the water to great heights.
ANDREW COTTRELL / SWNS

Speaking to ITV about being in the right place at the right time, Andrew said he'd taken hundreds of pictures, but knew he had a special shot when he went home and had a chance to really look at the images.

The picture of a male dolphin jumping out of the water and ending up about three metres up in the air was the shot he knew had captured something amazing.

He said: "It's a thrill to get something like that, because you never know what you have been able to get.

Advert

"You stand there hoping as you press the button that something that you're seeing is getting into the camera, but you never really know until you get home what you've got."

"That's the unusual thing. There are literally thousands of shots of dolphins breaching, but it's the height which is so unusual. I've never seen them go that far out of the water."

Some of the leaping dolphins made it as high as three metres out of the water.
ANDREW COTTRELL / SWNS

Dolphins are intelligent and fascinating creatures, with plenty of swimmers reporting that they've been protected by the aquatic mammals.

One guy who got lost at see off the coast of Ireland thought he was going to be eaten by sharks when he spotted fins circling him, but it actually turned out to be a pod of dolphins which experts believe were trying to herd him to safety.

Advert

Another swimmer tells the tale of how he was swimming off the New Zealand coast when a great white shark approached, but was warded off by a protective circle of dolphins.

Studying these animals has helped us learn a lot about them, including one fascinating fact that male bottlenose dolphins will 'wingman' each other to help them find a mate.

Sadly, since the pandemic dolphins who live in the waters around the UK have been increasingly disturbed by people in boats following a resurgence in tourism.

Featured Image Credit: ANDREW COTTRELL / SWNS

Topics: UK News, News, Animals

Joe Harker
Joe Harker

Joe graduated from the University of Salford with a degree in Journalism and worked for Reach before joining the LADbible Group. When not writing he enjoys the nerdier things in life like painting wargaming miniatures and chatting with other nerds on the internet. He's also spent a few years coaching fencing. Contact him via [email protected]

X

@MrJoeHarker

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

24 mins ago
an hour ago
2 hours ago
  • Solent News
    24 mins ago

    Nurse suing her own brother after he ‘sacked her while pregnant’

    Dr Mohammed Moughal tried to 'soften the blow' while sacking his sister Anika, the tribunal heard

    News
  • Fox News
    an hour ago

    Jimmy Kimmel viewers all make same point as Fox News host suggests the homeless 'should be killed'

    'The hypocrisy is astounding!'

    News
  • Win McNamee/Getty Images
    2 hours ago

    Melania Trump ‘body double’ conspiracy sparked over bizarre meeting with Royal Family

    Some social media users are convinced that Melania didn't visit the UK with Donald Trump

    News
  • YUI MOK/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
    2 hours ago

    People spot King Charles’ reaction to Donald Trump’s brutal ‘final UK visit’ comment

    Trump has split opinion with the strange comment

    News
  • Sinister update on dolphin ‘playing with family’ off UK coast as urgent warning issued
  • Man, 59, arrested in connection to explosion on oil tanker off UK coast
  • Scientists finally solve mystery of eerie 'halo' barrels submerged off US coast
  • How to switch off UK government emergency alert ahead of today’s phone test