Boatmen in Dingle say they have resigned themselves to the "strong likelihood" that Fungie may never return to the west Kerry town.Boats and divers have been carrying out an extensive search of Dingle Harbour for the past week, but there has been no sign of the famous dolphin.
"We think he was about nine years of age when he first arrived here in 1983 so that puts him at 45. The experts tell us that the usual life-span of a dolphin is in and around 45-50," he said — Seán Mac an tSíthigh October 20, 2020 Up to 12 boats operate daily trips, employing over 50 people. The trips also generate substantial footfall for restaurants, pubs, gift shops, hotels and guest houses.
"He has been with us so long, 37 years. There are so many people in this town that have grown up with Fungie and they don't know a life without him. Children, in particular, are devastated." she said
I'd say he just went to cast his vote in America. He'll be back.
Fungi has moved home and is hoping he can afford to purchase a house in Ballycotton with of course a view of the lighthouse. AdriannaHegarty Garryvoehotel TheBlackbirdB cushballycotton TrawlThe schoonermikej
Was he tagged? If he shows up in some nets😢
So has fungie been spotted/found yet? It is probably stupid to the outsiders, but anyone that has been to Dingle will know the score.
Fungi is following the Government advice and is staying with his pod.
Could say he was eaten by the lough ness monster - who locals have seen recently!
Plenty of seals there though... Some of the locals want to shoot them with high power rifles for stealing their fish.. Blaming the wildlife for the overfishing huh!
Hoping for safe return of Fungie🐬💙🐬💙
So sad to hear this. Seeing Fungie the dolphin was a magical experience when I visited the beautiful Dingle Peninsula as a young girl. 🐬🐬
😭
😪 I had the privilege of meeting Fungi many years ago, beautiful memory, keeping my fingers and toes crossed ♥️
He was an old dolphin. Wherever he is, I hope he's at peace.
heart ♥ breaks for Dingle people x Much Love from a Paddy in Wiltshire x
So sad. Had the pleasure of seeing him a couple of summers ago. Despite him being rather old, I'm certain the lack of socialisation with visitors on boats didn't help.
kevinwakeup mikehrom
Went to see him years ago, it was amazing.
Perhaps he is lonely now that there are less boats going out - Perhaps he has found a friend and gone on an adventure!
This is heartbreaking the thought off Fungie been dead. Brought so much joy and money to Dingle. Hopefully he has found another group of dolphins and followed them.
I do pray for y’all that he comes back with a girlfriend that he’s been courting!! 🙏🏼🐬❤️
Why is this news?
How old is this dolphin?
metalliznyc NecroMonoMgmt
Maybe fungie knows something we dont
AnthonYShaW123 😢
ErinMannix_
Lovely. I hope we'll see him again. Miracles do happen.
saw a 'harbour' Orca's bones in a museum in Aus. Dingle will set up somthin' like that..😎👍
No wonder he left look at the state of the country and the clowns over it
ZwartblesIE I wanna come to Dingle to meet Paddy the wise lighthouse keeper
Livgacks enjoy some old school Fungie footage 🐬🐬🐬
foggynotions just socially distancing.
❤️
So long, and thanks for all the fish?
37 years and nobody thought to tag him.
Met Fungie in 1989, magical day.
gregjames some (sad) animal news which has shook all of Ireland.
In lockdown1 they were robbing dogs and now it looks like in lockdown2 they are robbing Dolphins prayforfungie
Relax Fungi is just Cocooning hes a senior in dolphin terms,..i know him well were both from Dolphin House.
Maybe a pod swam by and he joined up with them.. I'd like to think he left on porpoise..💚
RIP Auld Fungie..... did the boat ride once, sensational. He was and still is the star of the town. Rest easy buddy x
He was old. He probably went of to die
kieranherlihy7 buff_egan Squalene
Beautiful report!
Get this man on the case
Very sad ...... I love Dingle !!
Im surprised they never tagged the dolphin? Or did they?
With european super trawlers devastating or fish livestock numbers i wouldn't blame him for leaving.
This creature knows what it's doing. Animals like people love freedom.
Thank you Fungie for delighting my sons, nieces and decades of children in Dingle Bay 🐬 ''Where did you come from?' 'Where are you bound for?' He has the ocean wide'
Out of interest, what the fuck were they going to even do if they found him? 🤷🏻
Even Fungie's had enough of Ireland. Don't blame him at all.
*looks up* *Sees Vogon Constructor Fleet*
😞
Oh no I didn't realise Fungie was still missing 💙 we visited him just last year 🙏🏻
He got the smell of what was happening here and got offside quick
AnnTravers6 How much were gangsters sorry fishermen charging the tourists to see fungi in the water?
cgilroy14 😢
mbreen39
They don’t care about some dolphin they care about the money he makes
Whale meat again, don’t know where don’t know when 🎶
😭
Healy Rae’s open a tuna factory in Dingke ... u take that back
sbbaughman watch this
I remember he almost made it onto Mick O’Dwyer’s four-in-a-row team...and he would only have been minor then. A stunning left fin! And such ability to read to game...improved drainage of the GAA fields stopped his senior career...as did his lack of legs and fear of dry land. 🥺
wow, what a choice ... Music: The Cottage by Michael Kamen from the movie Circle of Friends.
Dolphins can catch some novel corona viruses, just saying. This of course means nothing. Fungie, where are youuuuuu.. Come home lad....
Apparently he's been around for 35+ years, and the life expectancy for the species is about 40 years, so wouldn't it be quite possible that he has passed away from natural causes?
I watch Fungie playing with swimmers in 87. I came back in 89 and swam with him. It’s one of my fondest memories of my trips to Ireland.He kept swimming under me belly up and that Dolphin smile made me cry.I didn’t want to leave the water.🐬
Ronan_Kelly91
When I spent a summer in Dingle in 1986, Fungie was a tourist attraction. I was told there were a pair of dolphins originally. The other killed by fishermen for stealing fish from nets. Maybe Fungie’s finally got over it and realised he’s better off far from us in the wild ocean
Only in Ireland I absolutely love the Irish
MarkSeddon1962 Just can't 'Like'. ☹️
Hes embarrassed and ashamed of the current Govt and its illegal lockdown so has faked his own death.
😪
Connollyboi 😓😭
Lucky enough to see him in September and incredible to see him interact with the fishermen. He is a wild dolphin not trained to perform genuinely gutted for all involved 😔
Have you checked Sweden? It's where most intelligent life is found at the moment...
Finally escaped
Fungie was killed by Chinese vessels which are operating in the N Atlantic, Dolphin and Shark livers are the only sources of Squalene a key component of the covid19 Vaccine. These boats have been in Irish territorial waters all last week and they catch everything in their sights.
Ah lads 😪 Such a lovely report.
There's something fishy going on here..
Kylec1665 I'm just sick of 2020 now to be honest
“He has the ocean wide”.. 😔after a very long lockdown going to look for Fungi was one of their happiest days 😊🐬🌟
How come they haven’t got him chipped ? 🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🙏🙏🙏
I find myself incredibly sad about this update. Was lucky to meet him while swimming alone a long time ago. I remember loosing my breath when realising how massive he was from that close and the sensation of touching him. This dolphin is such a living symbol of benevolence.
funghieburgers
He got the feck out of this shitehole before he was locked into 5km radius
Looking forward to the amazing return of Fungie stunt whenever tourism gets moving again.
Can we just get a new dolphin now? 😢
JulieBogan 🥺🥺
An exploited mammal it was, exploited for all he was worth. I hope he got out of the harbour and is finally living in peace.
Slevatron
Gorgeous report 🐬
I'm surprised the guys organising the trip never thought to put a tracker on him
Irishwildlife RTE should be reporting on the native wildlife on the brink of becoming extinct due to current agricultural policies and practises instead of this crap but they won't. Its one dolphin and the oceans are quite big, idiots.
JohnzySherwin
Devastating news for Dingle and the world who loved him 🦈🦈
Hopefully fungie is self isolating.
Somewhere in Kerry there’s a Healey-Rae searching for dolphin suits on eBay.
'He has the ocean wide'💚
AislingHussey 😟
😥
Irishwildlife Sounds to me that some people will miss the jingle of coin not the cetacean that generated it. They'll copy an episode of Hamish Macbeth and tow a fake dolphin from a diesel driven winch yet.
Ah lads, not able for this today 😢
Beautiful report. 😢
Excellent report
damienwlr 😥😥
DarranMarshall He was Ireland’s raven in the tower of london💔
He got pissed off listening to covid crap!
Subtitles for the Kerry man now? Is Dáithí Ó Sé next?
1983 i 'met' him as a kid. My own kids visited him every year for the last decade. People may scoff but he was an institution.
nathangunter
Such a beautiful report - “he has the ocean wide” 😢
I want to believe he's alive
FlutterbyVoyage LilianaHarnett 😢
DarranMarshall He's on his way to New Zealand. Dolphins are smart.
Fuck you 2020, it’s a step too far 🐬
What a beautiful report Sean. Fungi brought such joy. My granddaughter with a Dublin mam and a Dingle dad is heartbroken. He brought such joy
mollyology81
😢
He had a good long happy life.
It looks fishy
😪😪🐬💕
😭
😭
I feel bad for the locals especially who've grown up with him
😭
jaws got him
Too ashamed of his stupid name.
Probably sick if FFGs bullshit too
Imagine this dolphin is getting a bigger search party and media coverage than most missing people 🙄
I am so sorry if Fungie has passed away. Love you Fungie forever.
Don’t worry the local businesses that cream millions fo the tourism he generates have ordered another one in from Seaworld in Florida. Aer Lingus are going to fly him in with the next load of PPE.
Bless you Fungie.
He is struggling with lockdown
Fungie is a communist defector
fungie is fed up of all this shit
He's in Sweden
Only in Ireland would you get that a dolphin has being missing for 7 days on the news🤣🤣
He’s in bits
Hopefully, he comes back safely 😓
Maybe Fungie is the Irish Skippy and is at this minute in the South China Sea fetching Chinese virologists. Di de Di da diddley iddley Di.....
RIP Fungi
There is a technocratic unstable government pulling this country into the pits. No wonder fungi took off.
There is a technocratic unstable government pulling this country into the pits. No wonder fungi fooked off.
That's not so bad, our Government has been missing for 7 years.
So sad to hear the news about Fungi, although Scottish we have family in Ireland.
Maybe he copped on and fucked off out of this kip
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