Incredible moment pod of friendly dolphins playfully leap out of the water near Brighton beach
- A family of dolphins were spotted playing together off the coast of Sussex
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A small pod of bottlenose dolphins playing and leaping out of the ocean off the coast of Brighton was caught on camera by ecstatic onlookers.
Jamilla Sadberry, from Sussex, was working her shift as a lifeguard on the patrol boat when she captured the beautiful moment earlier this week.
Although there are multiple sightings of the cetaceans each year, getting the opportunity to see them in the wild and be so close is incredibly rare.
In fact, Jamilla, who has been doing this job for four years, says this is the first time she has ever seen a dolphin.
The pod was spotted off the coast between the pier and marina, and the life guard and the boat’s coxswain, Stan Todd, couldn’t believe how close the dolphins came.
Jamilla Sadberry, from Sussex, was working on the lifeguard patrol boat when she filmed a pod of dolphins
The lifeguard and healthcare assistant estimates she saw between 30 and 40 dolphins in one day after years of not seeing any
She said: ‘It’s hard to explain how I felt, ecstatic, overwhelmed and incredibly lucky.
‘I’ve worked as a beach lifeguard for four years and never seen a dolphin so it was like a dream come true.
‘Especially as my brother worked one shift and saw some last year.’
Jamilla estimates they saw between 30-40 dolphins in total, with the pair less than a mile off shore.
Sharing the footage on Facebook group Brighton People, she wrote: ‘A few clips of the dolphins seen yesterday near the marina heading west to the pier videos taken from the lifeguard patrol boat.’
Captioning each video, it is possible to see what they believe to be a family of mum, dad and baby.
At one point, a cetacean can be seen playfully leaping out of the water to do a trick and swimming close by to enjoy the wake of the boat.
Understandably, people were in awe of the spectacular videos and rushed to thank Jamilla for posting the clips.
One person wrote: ‘Incredible footage! Thanks for sharing.’
‘Thank you for sharing this! I never manage to see the dolphins when they are here. So jealous,’ added a second happy local.
Another Brighton resident gushed, ‘That is amazing,’ while someone else penned, ‘Incredible footage! Thanks for sharing.’
The cetaceans were having a lovely time playing in the ocean and doing tricks for the Jamilla and her stunned colleague
At one point the pod got to enjoy the wake from the boat less than a mile off the shore of Brighton
Viewers of the stunning clips rushed to thank Jamilla for sharing the videos
Earlier this year it was revealed that two dolphins had died from bird flu for the first time in the UK, and were both infected with the highly contagious H5N1 virus.
The government announced the findings, stating the ocean mammals were found in separate spots, on beaches in Devon and in Pembrokeshire.
A harbour porpoise was also found to have died from the variant of avian influenza in East Yorkshire.
Highly pathogenic, H5N1 has spread around the globe over the past two years, causing the deaths of millions of birds.
Bird flu has been seen in dolphins elsewhere worldwide but never before in the species British waters.
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