A fisherman has claimed he has seen Kerry’s famous bottlenose dolphin Fungie after reports emerged the ever-popular tourist attraction had gone missing.
The Facebook Page “Fungie Forever Photos of the Dingle Dolphin” this morning posted that skipper Paul Hand had reported seeing Fungie yesterday morning and evening.
In an interview with RTE Mr Hand said that he was “1,000 per cent certain it was Fungie.”
“I’ve been looking at him for the last 40 years. It was definitely him. He swam alongside my boat for a spell as I headed out to the bay.”
Concerns had developed in Dingle after the dolphin had not been seen since Wednesday. In a post last night the Facebook page said Fungie had not been seen for the best part of two days.
“For the past two days Rudi and I have been searching for Fungie everywhere. There is absolutely no sign of him. Today I raised the alarm and I have to thank Mary and Mick O’Neill from Dingle Boat Tours who were so kind to take us on a very long search along the coastline and search in places we could not reach with our own small boat because of the waves. Meanwhile two other boats started a long search as well.
“We are very upset because it looks like we have lost our best friend. Fungie was a part of a lot of people’s lives. He was and is and will always be loved all over the world.”
The two people behind the page, Jeannine Masset and Rudi Schamart, regularly post pictures of Fungie and track his movements.
The couple, who are from the Netherlands but living in Dingle, take their little rubber Dinghy out daily to search for Fungie. They have been tracking the friendly dolphin for more than 25 years.
Their YouTube and Facebook pages attract thousands of hits annually. The dolphin has been seen in the area since 1983.
Last year a Lone Rangers report from wildlife experts identified Fungie as the longest living solitary cetacean in European waters. In the global list he is second only to Jojo, another bottlenose dolphin of the Turks and Caicos Islands in the West Indies who has been dated back 40 years.
Fungie’s presence in Kerry has created an industry of boat operators who have taken thousands out to see him.
News of his possible passing flooded social media. One person tweeted “Fungie is missing. That’s it 2020. I have had enough.”
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