Stunning images capture moment dolphins reach the Hartlepool coast as ‘at least 50’ are spotted in one sighting

Nature-loving Donald Lang photographed the special moment at around eight o’clock on Sunday evening, August 15, after fellow dolphin spotters Kim Willis and Trevor Maddison gave him a heads up that the animals were at Blackhall Rocks.

Donald, from Horden, met the pair at Blackhall and they headed to Hartlepool where they witnessed six pods of more than 50 dolphins in total breaching and splashing in the sea for around 20 minutes.

The former miner said: "It’s a good sight, watching them.

"They were present for about 20 minutes, just passing the lighthouse at Old Hartlepool.

"Kim and Trevor saw them in Blackhall Rocks and they knew they were coming south, so we got to Hartlepool and in about 20 minutes they came round the corner breaching and jumping.

"We kept watching them breaching and splashing all the way to Redcar.

"It’s pretty rare for them to be in Hartlepool.”

Popular dolphin Runny Paint also made an appearance as she was spotted at the back of one of the final pods Donald saw at Hartlepool.

Donald, 52, said: "Maybe six pods of dolphins had passed and we saw her breaching up. You could tell by the white markings on her fin that it was Runny Paint.”

Donald added that Runny Paint, who is believed to be 40-years-old, had been sighted in Blyth the previous day before being spotted in Roker, Sunderland, around lunchtime on Sunday and Hartlepool in the evening.

Donald said: “She’s put some miles in.”

Talking about the special experience of seeing a dolphin in the wild, he added: "It’s just amazing.

"You just pick your binoculars up when you are on the pier or you get the heads up off people saying they’re on the way, then you see the splashes and it’s just like ‘Get in, they’re on the way.’ It’s brilliant.”

The Sea Watch Foundation says 30 whale and dolphin species have been recorded in UK waters.

Bottlenose dolphins account for the majority of sightings on the North East coast although white-beaked dolphins can also be seen in August.

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