Charting interactions between dolphins and people
Irish Dolphins - Interactions between dolphins and people.  Including Fungie the Dingle Dolphin
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Dony update

Dony update September 24th 2003

The last time we reported on Dony, he had just finished a controversial week’s residency at the seaside resort and yachting harbour of Les Sables d’Olonne and was heading back up the Atlantic coast of France to the Pays de la Loire. He spent nearly two weeks there in the St.Nazaire area – where there is a busy port and shipbuilding yards – before returning to Brittany. The second half of August saw this hyperactive dolphin revisiting several previous haunts such as Lorient and L’ île de Groix, though he also added some new places to his list including the islands of Houat and Belle Ile. During September he has concentrated on Belle Ile, Quiberon and L'île de Groix, but the consistency in our list of sightings perhaps gives a misleading impression. Far from having settled in one location, Dony is still darting around all over the place, albeit within a 40km square area, and it is as impossible as ever to predict on a day-to-day basis where to find him. On a recent two week trip to the area specifically to meet up with the dolphin, wildlife cameraman David Day, who had already filmed Dony on the south coast of England during his stay there in summer 2002, found himself chasing around after the previous day’s reports and often just missing him, although he did succeed in connecting with him on four occasions.

A lot of Dony’s interactions recently have been with boats of various kinds rather than swimmers, perhaps due to the ferocious warnings issued by the Brest Oceanographic Institute and posted prominently in all the Port Captains’ offices of the region. These warn of an aggressive dolphin which is known for attacking and injuring people. Strangely, virtually all the actual eye-witness reports we receive from people who have been swimming with Dony – and there have been plenty throughout the summer - speak of a friendly, gentle and playful dolphin! Occasionally there have been accounts of him banging into people or mouthing their arms, just like he has always done since we first met him. More often he has performed his ‘snapping’ gesture, which marine biologists say is a threat, while one 8-year old boy who was on the receiving end of this behaviour told me that he thought Dony was ‘just trying to say hello’ – and who is to say who was right?! We wonder if these behaviours have been exaggerated or misinterpreted to portray Dony as a dangerous dolphin. Certainly we have seen a lot of hysterical reports in the French press, even worse than the Irish media’s treatment of Dusty, but none of them give any details of actual injuries which have supposedly been sustained, so we feel it is more likely a case of inexperienced swimmers getting scared rather than any actual physical damage. All the photos we have seen show Dony lying on his back or side, often in shallow water or at a dockside, having his tummy rubbed.

One thing which has become very clear this summer is that Dony always or nearly always hitches rides with boats when he moves from port to port. We have suspected this before, but it has been better documented now, and all the inter-island ferry captains off the south Brittany coast have made frequent observations of Dony bow-riding or wake-riding. It’s just like when he was in west Kerry, the best way of finding him was to get on the Blasket Island ferry and wait for him to turn up at one end of the trip or the other; except that there half a dozen different ferries to choose from in Brittany! We also suspect that when he has made large moves along the coast, such as down to Les Sables d’Olonne, it has also been in the company of a boat, as when he arrived in West Kerry from Carrigaholt or transferred from Cherbourg in France to Weymouth in England; but we don’t have any evidence for this yet, although somebody surely must have seen him during the gaps in our sightings records.

Another thing which shines out of the personal reports we have read is that the French people who have actually swum with Dony – as opposed to those who have merely read the newspapers – have really taken him to their hearts. Whereas people in Ireland and the UK might be more used to the idea of swimming with a friendly dolphin, thanks to the publicity surrounding Fungie over the years and to a lesser extent Freddie in England in the 1990’s, in most of France this is a new concept. Perhaps also the creatures of the sea might be seen to some extent as either to be killed and eaten, or to be feared if that is not possible! For whatever reason, whether this or the negative press reports, many swimmers speak of their pleasure and relief at finding out that Dony did not after all tear them limb from limb. Numerous accounts speak frankly of initial fear and hesitation turning to delight. People are almost surprised to find him friendly and docile, in fact, and their pleasure in this is quite noticeable. Whereas in Dingle we take it for granted that dolphins are friendly and would ask for considerable evidence to be persuaded otherwise, the reverse seems to be true in France. This is a situation which is surely changing rapidly as more and more people discover the wonder and joy of swimming with a wild dolphin – thanks to Dony!

For those of you who read French, follow this link for a selection of recent personal accounts of interactions with Dony in Brittany, with thanks to Sandra Guyomard and Réseau Cétacés.
Date Posted: 25/09/2003
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