 One of the most amazing experiences of my life was a visit to Tory Island, which is just off the northern Donegal coastline in Ireland. I went over with my friend Shauna, and we brought our wetsuits and boards with us in case we found a little wave while we were there....a proper little surf road trip/exploration!
 Well boy were we glad we brought our wetsuits! We were cycling around being all touristy on rented bikes when we spotted a Golden Labrador swimming with a Dolphin in the harbour. I swear I thought I was dreaming and definately rubbed my eyes a few times just to make sure! The dog was swimming around in circles looking for the dolphin, who was teasing him by popping up all over the place and then disappearing again just as the dog got close.
Doogie is a wild dolphin who used to follow the passenger ferry in and out of the harbour. Ben is the local labrador and every time Doogie comes in, he is straight in there and they swim around together for up to three hours at a time! A couple of the local boys had been swimming with Doogie before, and while we were there a couple of american scientists were swimming with him and studying his behaviour. You can imagine how delighted they were when Shauna and I jumped in for a couple of hours like mad eejits full of excitement!!
The most memorable part of my swim with Doogie was watching him from under the water. He would swim up towards the surface, tap the Bens' feet with his nose, dart off and then come back to do it all over again. Ben the labrador was going mad with excitement, swimming in circles looking for Doogie and basically Doogie was taking the piss out of him....I laughed and laughed underwater, blowing bubbles until I ran out of breath and had to reluctantly surface!
Here are a couple of the photos we managed to snap on my waterproof digital camera. I honestly still can't believe that this actually happened, it was a once in a life time and very random experience! What made it even better was that we were some of the first people to swim with Doogie. The week after, the national media got a hold of the story and the special secret was out! I'm not even sure he comes into the harbour any more.
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One of the most amazing experiences of my life was a visit to Tory Island, which is just off the northern Donegal coastline in Ireland. I went over with my friend Shauna, and we brought our wetsuits and boards with us in case we found a little wave while we were there....a proper little surf road trip/exploration!
Well boy were we glad we brought our wetsuits! We were cycling around being all touristy on rented bikes when we spotted a Golden Labrador swimming with a Dolphin in the harbour. I swear I thought I was dreaming and definately rubbed my eyes a few times just to make sure! The dog was swimming around in circles looking for the dolphin, who was teasing him by popping up all over the place and then disappearing again just as the dog got close.
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