Dingle celebrates 30 years of visits by Fungie the Dolphin

Some people ask, "What is one of the most amazing things you have seen in your life?"   I reply, "Dingle and Fungie.  The dolphin named Fungie lives near the town of Dingle on the west coast of Ireland and I can't explain why I'm so fascinated with this story..."

PHOTOS

I was visiting with my wife in 1995 (a driving tour of Ireland) and we heard about Dingle.

Then we heard about Fungie.

Here are some photos from the video... there is going to be a 30-year celebration of the dolphin's visits to the town's harbor.

I'm going to reprint an article that I found on the website:

Fungie is a mature male bottlenose dolphin who has been resident in Dingle since 1983. He is the longest standing friendly solitary dolphin in the world.

The Dingle Dolphin is a large, robust male bottlenose dolphin with moderate scarring. He measures about 3.7m (12ft) in length and must weigh over 300kg. He has a noticeable notch out of the left hand side of his tail fluke and a small nick near the base of his dorsal fin, which is fairly rounded. Right from the first observations his teeth have been somewhat rounded, which with his large size indicates a mature dolphin even at the time of his arrival in Dingle. His teeth are now quite worn at the front and we guess his current age to be between 25 and 35 years. Like other interactive dolphins he sometimes has lumps out of the end of his beak, due most likely to sticking his nose into spinning propellers.

http://dingledolphin.com/

 FungieDolphin.com

This is my message to the owner of the youtube channel where I saw this video.
I'm crying with happiness that such an event is going to introduce thousands of people
to this miracle of nature:  The connection of humans and dolphins.

  Maybe this article will inspire students to ask more questions about the power of animals to feel emotions.  Maybe we should listen more carefully and consider the feelings of animals...  My neighbor Hy Sheiner told me that his dogs have real love for him.  I'm beginning to understand what he meant.



My friend Erik Friedl has created documentary films for the Humane Society and here are some that I recommend to my students.


In short, the world is filled with mystery and one of them is "what does it take to be human?"  Part of the answer for me is "To spend time with other humans."  That's what it takes to be human.  We just enjoy being with each other.   So when animals spend time with us, are they showing that beginning piece of "being human"?


Here are some links to Erik's videos

Power of Compassion

Friends for Life

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9RVtiFv-cI


Kiss the Animals Goodbye




Go ahead, click here

Please click on the FungieDolphin.com website

These photos come from DOdingle.com

Why not visit the Dingle Dolphin website called fungie forever?
Click like, please   http://www.dodingle.com/Activities/fungie-the-dingle-dolphin-photos.html


Erik's videos show the emotions that animals share with us.

Homework for my students:  Write about a time when you interacted with an animal and think about "what was going on inside the mind of that animal?"