Dolphins spotted off island coast

About 50 dolphins were spotted off Peel Breakwater

A pod of what is believed to have been about 50 bottlenose dolphins has been spotted off the Isle of Man coast.

The sea mammals were spotted just yards off Peel breakwater on Tuesday, Manx Whale and Dolphin Watch said.

The group said the pod was likely to belong to the group of about 150 dolphins resident in the Irish Sea, and may have travelled from Cardigan Bay.

Anyone else who spots dolphins off the Manx coast is urged to register their sighting with the watch website.

The pod was last seen heading south, past Peel Hill going towards Niarbyl.

Spokesman John Galpin said: "It's unusual to see so many around the island, but we've actually had more sightings in December and January of large pods of bottlenose than we have in the summer usually.

"It's a good thing to see and that's one of the things we need to try and do this year, which is identify where our whales and dolphins come from."