One of the celebrities of Dingle is Fungi-- the dolphin. Some smart, enterprising dolphin wandered into Dingle Bay several years ago and decided to hang around. Tourists were interested, and voila-- a new enterprise was born-- boat tours to see Fungi. Of course seeing Fungi is popular with the youngsters, so we took Isabelle on the tour to see Fungi (not her first time though). The tour lasts about an hour, and comes with a guarantee of seeing Fungi or your money returned. Fungi must be a dedicated and diligent employee on the payroll to make this economic-- apparently he shows up for work regularly.
The tour boat goes to the mouth of the harbour, and circles about. When Fungi shows up, the boat will often make a straight run at a higher speed-- apparently this gets Fungi's interest and he follows along side and behind the boat. The tour boats work together to get Fungi his exercise.
I'm not sure what Fungi's motivation is for this exercise-- he must work a long day with the many boat tours. My theory is that the boat propeller and motion stirs up and frightens bait fish, which then become chow for Fungi. I have seen this phenomenon in Florida, where the paths of the bait fish actually fluoresce, and very visible in the water. And you were thinking Fungi just loves children...
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| Fungi at work with the tour boats, Dingle Harbour |
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| A bronze monument to Fungi, Dingle Harbour |
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