Stunning images show dolphins splashing at Hartlepool's Headland as the sun goes down

Anthony Skordis, 46, managed to photograph the dolphins jumping in and out of the water as the evening sun was shining on them at around 5pm on Monday, October 25.

The professional photographer, who specialises in newborn photography, started taking pictures of dolphins back in August as a hobby after joining local dolphin spotting Facebook page Dolphin Spotting NE.

He said: “It’s just magnificent to see these beautiful creatures on your doorstep.

"For me, and to a lot of people that have seen them once, it becomes very, very addictive and you want to see them more and more.”

Anthony has said he spotted two pods of dolphins on Monday, with the first one reaching Hartlepool at 2pm before the second one arrived at 5pm.

"Where we stand on the Headland, if you’ve got binoculars you can spot them when they start approaching Steetley Pier,” he said.

"Normally, they take about 20 minutes from Steetley to the Headland.

"Yesterday as they came past, they didn’t really hang around, they kind of just went south, but when they got nearer in the distance you could see them breaching as they were going along.”

Despite being a professional, Anthony has said capturing the images took “months of hard work”.

"If you want to see dolphins, it’s looking out and having lots of perseverance and hope they will turn up, but trying to photograph them takes a lot of practice to get some good pictures.

"Those pictures are after a few months of hard work.

"It’s a lot of practice and patience, but I was really happy with the pictures, because it really shows off how wonderful the dolphins are.”

Anthony, who is originally from London before moving to Hartlepool three years ago, says he likes to post the dolphin photos in local Facebook groups so he can share the amazing experience with others and give advice on how they can also spot them in the future.

He added: "It’s such a lovely thing to be able to see in a time when people have a lot of negativity.”

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