August 2005

Dolphin Spotted in River Foyle

Derry's Lough Agency is asking the public to be on the lookout for a young dolphin after it was spotted swimming in the River Foyle at the weekend.

The creature, nicknamed, 'Shutter Speed.' was identified and photographed at St. Johnston on Saturday after a local woman saw the unusual creature and reported the sighting to the Agency.

We had an introduction to angling session here at the weekend for young people and it just so happened that I was here when we received a call from a lady who lives by the river in St. Johnston saying she had spotted an unusual fish in the Foyle." explained River Watcher Lionel Knobbs.

"Curiosity got the better of me, I called her back and from the conversation we had I was convinced that she knew what she was talking about." Spurred on to find out more the river watcher and a co-worker launched a boat and headed towards the spot where the mystery sea creature was seen. We got alongside and could make out that it was a dolphin, although I wouldn't like to speculate on its age or species," said Mr. Knobbs.

"At first the dolphin swam away from us, which shows that it is healthy, but we were able to get close enough to get a few photos." The dolphin, nicknamed 'Shutter Speed' because it was almost too fast for the camera, has not been spotted since and Lionel hopes the creature will be able to find it's way back to the sea. "Dolphins' natural habitat is in salt water out at sea but we think it headed into the fresh water because it was attracted by the fish in the Foyle. There were big tides at the weekend so hopefully the dolphin will smell the salt water and swim back out to sea. However if 'Shutter Speed' is still in the Foyle, Lionel says the marine experts will be contacted to return the dolphin to its natural habitat.

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