Dolphins caught on camera playing near Bournemouth Pier

Alex Deutsch was out on his personal watercraft when he came across the marine animals near the pier at Bournemouth beach, just after 6pm.

“I saw them out nearby and I’m quite conscious to not get too close as you should not disrupt them,” Mr Deutsch told the Echo.

“But, they started coming to us and started playing. One got close and jumped over the nose of my jet ski.”

Previously he said he had seen them close to the entrance of Poole Harbour from a distance, but he did not approach them.

In a bid to ensure he did not disturb the dolphins Mr Deutsch opted to move away and back towards where he keeps his jet ski in Poole, only for the dolphins to follow him.

He said: “I started going away, so they were not disturbed, and as we moved they moved with us and followed us all the way back to Poole.”

Mr Deutsch said he has been out on the water for several years and had “always wanted to see them,” with the encounter making his year.

“You’re not supposed to seek them. On the water I keep an eye out and it was lovely seeing them.”

The Bournemouth resident is due to get married soon and described his experience as feeling like a “little present,” ahead of the big day.

Read more: Pictures: Spectacular show of 30 dolphins at Hengistbury Head

On that evening the 'sea was like glass,' that combined with the warm temperatures and the encounter, the operations manager said it was like being transported abroad.

“It was like going to a different country. For half an hour I thought I was in the Maldives,” he added.

Mr Deutsch was keen to iterate that people should not go looking for the dolphins.

He said: “It’s really important people know not to go to them, especially if they want to get away.”

Earlier on the same day two dolphins were spotted leaping from the water near to Boscombe Pier, just weeks after the marine animals were seen putting on a display for paddleboarders in the water at Swanage Bay.