Dolphins spotted in UK waters as pod swim happily alongside RNLI boat - watch video taken of sighting

A RNLI crew had a Sunday to remember after Brighton employees spotted a pod of dolphins swimming gracefully alongside the rescue boat.

Ben Hylands captured the pod of dolphins during a Sunday training exercise and was audibly shocked by how close the dolphins were swimming alongside the boat.

Several dolphins followed the crew off the Brighton coast for nearly ten minutes before leaving the boat near Brighton Marina.

Taking to Twitter to share the video, Brighton RNLI wrote: “We were lucky enough to be joined by several dolphins during a Sunday training exercise recently. The pod followed our lifeboat for around 10 minutes and left us near #Brighton Marina!”

One user replied: “Awe that’s so cool, nice to have company that doesn’t need saving , keep up the good work.”

The UK is no stranger to dolphins. Earlier this year, a pair of bottlenose dolphins showed up near Brighton Marina and in the sea off the Sefton coast in Merseyside.

Speaking to the Argus, Project lead at Sussex Dolphin Project, Thea Taylor, said: “We think that there were more dolphins here last year than there have been in the last three years. In the summer months, we get three or four sightings per week and last year we had 42 different sightings in total.

“The sightings help us understand the health of the population, determine which pods are interacting with each other and whether they are breeding.

“Last year, we had quite a few sightings of pods with calves, which is really great - especially for the porpoises because it shows that they are breeding in the area.”