Brilliant photos capture moment dolphins followed fishermen's boat off Hartlepool coast

One of the images captured by Mally Kelly and Adam Wakefield from their kayak.

The images have been shared by driving instructor Mally Kelly, 45, from the Rossmere area of town, as he and friend Adam Wakefield, 37, a chef who lives in the Oxford Road area, were out between Marine Drive and Steely Pier early on Thursday morning.

They had headed out at 4.30am and spotted dolphins an hour later, with the pod making a reappearance at around 8.30am as it put on a display which could also be seen from the coast.

Kayakers rescued after getting into difficulty off the coast at Blackhall

Mally Kelly and Adam Wakefield pictured on the kayak.

Mally said: “People from the shore who witnessed it said the dolphins surrounded us then put on a show.

“We were just coming in from fishing and people from the beach got a better view of them than we did.

“The dolphins just surrounded us, we don't know how many there were they were that fast coming out of the water.

“There was just one after the other diving out, it was just madness.

The dolphins were also spotted by people out on the coast.

“I’ve seen them before, last year, but that was from land, but not from the boat.

“We were just drifting back when we spotted them for that second time.”

Adam managed to catch a flatfish and a mackerel during their trip out, both quickly put back into the water.

The men think the dolphins scared most of the shoals away as they tried to feed around the shoreline between the piers.

One of the photos showed a dolphin as it jumped out of the water.

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Mally Kelly and Adam Wakefields photos caught the dolphins as they were close to the Hartlepool coastline.

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