Look how old and wise Fungi is now…

Are you ready for your close up?

21/02/13 18,016 Views 40 Comments

IF THERE WAS any doubt that Fungi is the same Dolphin that’s been knocking around off the Kerry coast all these years, maybe this picture will put some minds at ease.

Now we’re not exactly sure what an old dolphin looks like, but we’re pretty sure this might come pretty close:

fungiold

The photo (taken on 19 February) comes with the kind permission of Jeannine Masset and Rudi Schamhart, who have been visiting Fungi since 1991.

Here’s Rudi having the craic with Fungi:

fungi2

And here’s an image from 1996:

fungi3

You can head over to the Fungi Forever Facebook page to see more pictures dating back to 1993>

Fungi the Dolphin is alive and well>

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Emer McLysaght

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kmccaul 21/02/13 #

5 317

A National Treasure!

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barry o mahony 21/02/13 #

1 128

The first pic looks like he was on the batter for a whole week.

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- Paul Martin 21/02/13 #
  
  4 135
  
  Better than IN the batter
  
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- Holiday Dingle 23/02/13 #
  
  0 2
  
  If you want to see high quality photos of Fungi… take a look here
  http://www.dinglephoto.com/DinglePhotography/Fungi-the-Dolphin/23616385_m5C7BF#!i=2317503013&k=JdhJzQD
  
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Mary Mc Carthy 21/02/13 #

8 333

He is a beautiful creature ! Long may he live

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Sharon Larkin 21/02/13 #

3 161

Good to see he’s still going strong

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fergus 21/02/13 #

8 264

My skin would be that wrinkly as well if I was in the bath a long time lol

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john cooling 21/02/13 #

12 252

Good to see he hasn’t legged it to Australia fair play fungi! #loyal

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Sean Mac Gabhann 21/02/13 #

0 33

Loads of them all around the cost along with other sea creatures we only think exist in far off lands. Great to see that people are enjoying them, wonderful creatures long may it last.

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Dingle Dolphin Tours 21/02/13 #

2 53

Fungie is unique and has chose to stay in Dingle for 30 yrs , he brings joy smiles and happiness to all who go to see him , he is a national treasure and in these tough times – hes amazing
We are privalaged that he picked Dingle to be his home
http://www.dingledolphin.com

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Niall Cavanagh 21/02/13 #

5 56

He must be coming close to retiring age now, he has been around so long!

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Joanne Fitzgerald 21/02/13 #

3 40

Fungi is magic

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Jeannine Masset 21/02/13 #

1 23

One thing is for sure….. Fungie is wild and free and spents lots of time catching his own fresh fish. No drugs are needed when you appreciate and enjoy your life. For now this gentle dolphin is still around us and every moment with him is precious. Since Fungie is probably only around 37 years old now and bottlenose dolphin in the wild can live way up in their fifty’s…… he still has plenty of time to go to Daveys Locker…..

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- Jack Bowden 21/02/13 #
  
  8 4
  
  People should feed him fish so he doesn’t need to catch them for himself. Poor guy is on his own and they usually hunt for fish in groups. It’s hard to catch fish on their own.
  
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tony duggan 21/02/13 #

8 45

I’d like to hear fungi’s opinion on the Healy Rae proposal on drink driving??

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Cpm 21/02/13 #

6 29

Is there a Mrs. Fungi?

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- Derek Larney 21/02/13 #
  
  11 16
  
  No there is no Mrs.Funghi and I don’t think there will be either. It seems that there is a good possibility that Funghi is gay. It is very rare for dolphins to leave their family pod but the rumour is that they’re homophobic and Funghi was excluded from from his pod as a result. Australian dolphin researchers found both gay and bi-sexual dolphins in a pod of 120 last year
  http://now.msn.com/researchers-find-bisexual-and-exclusively-gay-dolphins
  
  Poor gay dolphin got kicked out of the family and never found his soul mate=(
  
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- Jeannine Masset 21/02/13 #
  
  3 60
  
  I have to dissapoint you Derek Larney…. for Fungie is certainly not Gay.. In the last 22 years we have been spending so much time with Fungie, we have had lady dolphins visiting regulary and Fungie had his fun with them…. Just have a look in our Album Fungie and Friends on the fb page and you can see Fungie with his lady friend. He also had a female that stayed with him for months. Beside who care wether a dolphin is gay or not. Even if he was, it would not be a problem to anyone. Fungie is a unique character who on his own and out of his own free will has made people from all over the world smile and happy, who has brought comfort to sick and dying people and who made everyone he met feel very special. That is the gift he gave to all of us…. His sexuality is not at debate at all.
  
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- dowthebow 21/02/13 #
  
  9 17
  
  In fairness Jeannine I dont think Derek is having a go at him…
  By any chance are you an over sensitive gay dolphin?
  
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- Jack Bowden 21/02/13 #
  
  1 19
  
  I think he likes fish sticks.
  
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- Derek Larney 22/02/13 #
  
  9 8
  
  @Jeanine I never claimed that Funghi is gay, I said that there is a good possibility of it -there is a wealth of difference so please don’t misquote me. Marine researchers & biologists have claimed that homosexuality and bi-sexuality are the most likely reason why sometimes dolphins get excluded from their pod. Hence why I said there is a ‘good possibility’ that he is gay, I never said he definitely was in the same way that you claim he is definitely heterosexual.
  
  And what makes you so sure he is heterosexual, you seem to be quite hung up on that point and I’m wondering about your motivations here. You claim to have been visiting Funghi for 22 years but for how long each time ? Even if you had of spent 30 minutes each and every day with him for 22 long years then you would still only have had less than 2% of all available time. It is more than possible he could have had lots of relationships with male dolphins in the 98% of time that you weren’t there..
  
  I realise from your Facebook page that you have a love of dolphins, as do I, but going around making unscientific statements about them does nothing to further human beings understanding of them. At a minimum you should at least allow for a possibility of him being bi-sexual yet you’ve never even considered that.
  
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Pierce2020 21/02/13 #

34 87

They should make him mayor of Dingle, well it wouldn’t be the stupidest idea coming out of the kingdom this week

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Niall Mulligan 21/02/13 #

26 61

You’re all off yer rockers ! He’s an advanced swimming robot commissioned by Kerry CoCo to keep them in the dough.

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- mohamad oconnor 21/02/13 #
  
  7 21
  
  He used to be the logh ness monster!
  
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Abbi Cranky 21/02/13 #

13 34

He is a national treasure indeed and a genuine way to interact with dolphins.
I went “swimming” with dolphins in Oz, paid a load too. Only to be told that they won’t go near them, call them or encourage them with food. We were told that the dolphins would interact with us ‘if they wanted to’. What a fecking gyp. I suspect there was no history of dolphins doing this voluntarily at this place and they were just robbing us.
Shoulda kept the cash and waited to meet Fungi.

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Marian O'Flaherty 21/02/13 #

11 23

Anyone with some sort of cynical comment to impart clearly hasn’t encountered this gentle giant; it’s an amazing experience that stays with you. There is no doubt that Fungie is a pure soul – he is special and we love him so much. He is really huge up close but so gentle at the same time – it’s kind of humbling. This is his thirtieth year in Dingle Harbour and there is a lot going on over the summer to celebrate that so come down for a visit (check out http://www.facebook.com/dinglenews for updates).

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- Jeannine Masset 21/02/13 #
  
  4 12
  
  Absolutely agree with you Marian!
  
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Liz (10) (^_^) 21/02/13 #

1 6

I love Fungi. Saw him on my holidays. Absolute national treasure. Great to see him so well. And I learned today that dolphins get wrinkles, I did not know that.

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Sue Redmond Maloco 22/02/13 #

3 9

Honestly, i really think all the negative comments people have posted are because they have not had the experience of meetiing Fungi. Shame, because it is truly a most incredible journey that some people pay a huge amount of money to experience in places like the US & Oz. I’ve done several and my best moments were in Dingle with this wild beautiful creature. So stop moaning and go say hello to him – wrinkles and all…….

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Thomas Murray 22/02/13 #

2 7

I love Fungi

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Kieran Casey 21/02/13 #

3 8

Actually their is i sensor on top of his head when boats pass a catapult is released and he jumps out of the water hes also solar powered i fitted the panels myself all Kerry people know this !!!

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Gis Bayertz 21/02/13 #

15 20

Great guy (dolphin) – I hope he’ll live many more years in good health. Maybe it’s time to ask him to run for government? He surely must be better than the trolls now in power?

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Grey Bottlenose 21/02/13 #

10 11

Well the truth is having swum the oceans for a few years I found myself at the mouth of DIngle Harbour. I escorted the fishing trawlers in and out of the harbour for a while and yes you guessed, soon enough people started coming to see me, on boats, in kayaks, swimming and in speed boats. I love the company. It is a great place to fish, loads of them, funnelled through the mouth of the harbour on every tide, easy pickings! Maybe I am lazy, but why would I leave such a glorious spot? Come and see me, I love visitors…If you want to know about the weekend celebrating 30 years of me living in Dingle, log into http://www.fungiedolphin.com

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Meehawwl O' Buachailla 21/02/13 #

12 12

Where there’s Dolphins there’s money.

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Holiday Dingle 23/02/13 #

2 2

Miriam O’Callaghan from RTE television to launch the Fungi Anniversary Weekend on 26th April in John Benny’s Bar, followed by music from Dingle’s own wonderful Lumiere

http://tmblr.co/ZFqLrveo1ZsA

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Harry C 21/02/13 #

117 14

Why don’t they catch him and put him in the aquarium and when he pops his clogs stuff him. lol

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- Liz Gallagher 21/02/13 #
  
  2 31
  
  that’s a really stupid statement to make – what an idiot!
  
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Ger Meehan 21/02/13 #

25 4

I bet those Kerry men have him full of drugs just to keep him alive………….he should have gone to daveys locker well before now…..

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Suzanne Mc Aleenan 21/02/13 #

23 2

went to see fungi last september. disappointed he wouldnt come near d boats. waste of money & i love dolphins.

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- Tor Cotton 21/02/13 #
  
  1 27
  
  I am sure you were disappointed but that is the reality of visiting a wild creature in its own habitat. Thankfully he doesn’t perform. I am sorry that he didn’t really show up for you, it usually means he was fishing and I suppose he is entitled to a bit of grub.
  
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Look how old and wise Fungi is now…

Are you ready for your close up?

You can head over to the Fungi Forever Facebook page to see more pictures dating back to 1993>

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