Some fin special! Pod of dolphins pop up to delight sailors by taking rare swim from sea into River Dart
A group of young sailors enjoyed 'some fin' quite different after a pod of dolphins swam right up to their boat while floating in a quiet harbour.
They were left thrilled when the large pod invaded the River Dart between Dartmouth and Kingswear, Devon, on Saturday morning.
Undeterred by encountering humans, the friendly mammals swam right up to them and appeared to be very comfortable surrounding the dinghies.
A group of young sailors enjoyed the rare moment of seeing dolphins up close as they swam in the River Dart on Saturday
The aquatic mammals swam in a pod of at least nine dolphins between Dartmouth and Kingswear in Devon for over an hour
The friendly mammals swam right up close to the boats and stayed with the sailors for an hour as they hunted for fish
Photographer Andy Kyle captured the moment and observed that the aquatic mammals stayed close to the sailors for more than an hour as they hunted for fresh fish.
Other boaters also enjoyed some extremely close encounters as the most curious dolphins swam up the 47-mile long river and were even seen by people in Dartmouth town.
These young sailors were in for a treat as the rare sighting of a dolphin pod frequently came up close to them in the water
At least nine dolphins can be seen in this photograph taken on Saturday afternoon of the visiting pod by Andy Kyle
Sailors were careful to maintain their speed and distance around the dolphins, which swam extremely close to their boats
Passengers on board this ship carrying cars looked excitedly on at the highly unusual sight of dolphins in the River Dart
Not even this large ferry scared away the aquatic mammals, which appeared to be unusually friendly as they hunted for prey
Dolphins are frequently spotted along the coastline and on occasion can venture into the estuary.
They mostly travel in groups, also known as pods, which can contain anywhere between two and thirty dolphins, though some superpods have been known to feature 100 or even several thousand dolphins.
As social mammals, the pods help ensure that dolphins swim together, protect one another and hunt for food as a team.