A POD of dolphins stunned lucky sailors with their aquatic acrobatics on Saturday afternoon. Around 20 of the mammals played in waters off Sandbanks for around an hour, delighting viewers.

The same group could also be spotted from Southbourne earlier that morning, where many walkers reported catching a glimpse of the animals as they strolled along the beach.

Maria Jones, 19, took this photograph from the prow of a boat. She said: “I was off Sandbanks when I saw them. “There were loads of them – it was amazing. We watched them for at least 45 minutes. I think there were at least 20 swimming nearby.”

She said the dolphins could be seen leaping from the water. “Everyone was trying to see them,” she said.

Lorraine Hucker captured a number of images from a powerboat off Old Harry Rocks. She watched the dolphins play and leap from the water, and filmed this footage:

Reader Tom Walker used his mobile phone to get this brief clip of a dolphin leaping from the water:

 

In October of last year, Poole electrician Paul Kerrison spotted around 20 dolphins feeding and playing near Old Harry Rocks. He had initially set out to take photographs of the Jurassic Coast from the sea. Dolphins are highly social animals, often living in pods of up to a dozen individuals, although pod sizes can vary greatly between species and locations.

Reader Tom Walker used his mobile phone to get this brief clip of a dolphin leaping from the water:

 

If you have any photos of the dolphins, email them to Newsdesk@bournemouthecho.co.uk, or Tweet us @bournemouthecho