Family’s joy as 15 dolphins swim by

A BUDLEIGH Salterton family were treated to a rare sight, when their boat was surrounded by a pod of 15 dolphins, while they sailed off Exmouth.

Sadie Silk, her husband Paul, 34, and children Jack, nine, and Louis, five, were sailing about a mile off Sandy Bay in their rigid inflatable boat, when Mr Silk spotted a fin in the water.

Before long the boat was surrounded by 15 dolphins - including a female and her young calf.

Mrs Silk, 34, said the pod swam around and underneath the boat for several minutes, while the family followed them along the coast before they swam out to sea.

Mrs Silk said she had never seen such a sight before - and had only heard of people spotting single dolphins in the waters off East Devon.

She said, to start with, just two or three faces appeared, but before long dolphins were bobbing up on both sides of the boat.

By luck, the family had their video camera on board the boat.

Mrs Silk said the water had been choppy when the family set sail.

"They were so close you could see their eyes," she said. "They were going under the boat at one point. It was unforgettable really.

"They were coming up on both sides of the boat. I couldn't catch it all on video.

"It was unreal and lovely. To see them that close was amazing. We didn't think the waters were warm enough. We were very lucky.

"We wanted to stay with them, which is why we followed them along the coast. But they were going out a lot deeper so we said 'bye'.

"It was so interesting to watch the mother and baby."

Mrs Silk said five-year-old Louis had been frightened when he first saw the creatures.

She said: "They were huge. It was quite surprising.

"The boys keep saying 'let's go and find the dolphins again'. But the chance of us seeing them again is very unlikely.

"I don't know if we will be lucky enough to see them again. We were in the right place at the right time.

"We have had the boat for five years but we had never seen a dolphin before."

l If you have seen any dolphins off the East Devon coast, let us know by going to www.exmouthjournal.co.uk