Incredible moment a pod of friendly dolphins playfully jump out of the water near Brighton beach
A small pod of bottlenose dolphins playing and jumping out of the ocean off the Brighton coast was caught on camera by jubilant 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 cetacean sightings each year, getting the chance to see them in the wild and being this close is incredibly rare.
In fact, Jamilla, who has been doing this job for four years, says this is the first time she’s seen a dolphin.
The pod was spotted just offshore between the pier and the marina, and the boat’s lifeguard and helmsman, Stan Todd, couldn’t believe how close the dolphins were.
Jamilla Sadberry, from Sussex, was working on the patrol lifeboat when she filmed a pod of dolphins.
The lifeguard and health assistant estimates that 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 lifeguard on the beach for four years and I’ve never seen a dolphin, so it was like a dream come true.
“Especially since my brother worked a shift and saw a few last year.”
Jamilla estimates that they saw between 30 and 40 dolphins in total, with the pair less than a mile offshore.
Sharing the images on the Brighton People Facebook group, he wrote: “Some clips of the dolphins seen yesterday near the marina heading west towards the pier, videos taken from the lifeguard patrol boat.”
By captioning each video, it’s possible to see what they think is a mommy, daddy, and baby family.
At one point, a cetacean can be seen playfully jumping out of the water to do a trick and swimming nearby to enjoy the wake of the ship.
People were understandably in awe of the spectacular videos and were quick to thank Jamilla for posting the clips.
One person wrote: ‘Amazing pictures! Thanks for sharing.’
‘Thank you for sharing this! I never get to see the dolphins when they are here. So jealous,’ added a second happy local.
Another Brighton resident said: ‘That’s amazing’, while someone else wrote: ‘Amazing pictures! Thanks for sharing.’
The cetaceans had a great time playing in the ocean and doing pirouettes for Jamilla and her stunned colleague.
At one point, the capsule was able to enjoy the ship’s wake less than a mile off the Brighton coast.
Viewers of the impressive clips were quick 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 both were infected with the highly contagious H5N1 virus.
The government announced the finds, stating that the marine mammals were found in separate locations, on beaches in Devon and Pembrokeshire.
A harbor porpoise was also found to have died from the avian influenza variant in East Yorkshire.
Highly pathogenic, H5N1 has spread around the world in the past two years, killing millions of birds.
Bird flu has been seen in dolphins in other parts of the world, but never before in British waters.
