Pod of ‘more than 100’ dolphins swim and play alongside fishermen’s boat off the South Coast

Two fishermen were treated to a sight they had never seen before when their boat was surrounded by ‘more than 100’ playful dolphins off the South Coast.

Friends Ashton Keiditsch, 55, and John Davenport, 48, enjoyed a ‘seriously special’ spectacle just minutes after sailing south from Portsmouth, Hampshire.

The pod of dolphins swam alongside their 32ft motor boat after John slowed it down to take stunning footage of the rare sight.

The unusual encounter happened five minutes from Langstone Harbour, near Hayling Island, Portsmouth.

Friends Ashton Keiditsch, 55, and John Davenport, 48, spotted scores of dolphins five minutes from Langstone Harbour, near Hayling Island, Portsmouth in Hampshire

The dolphins play by the side of the fishermen’s 32ft motor boat after John slowed it down to take stunning footage of the rare sight

In footage shot by John on July 19, four dolphins come into shot and swim under the boat’s hull as one of the men says: ‘Look just here. Amazing, they’re playing with the boat.’ 

Several more dolphins join in, swimming alongside the boat and breaching the water, as the man laughs and continues: ‘Look at them. They’re right here.’

The dolphins swim right up to the surface by the side of the boat, with four lining up horizontally and he exclaims: ‘You are having a laugh. This is outrageous.’

They turn onto their side while swimming alongside the boat, with six on one side and three on the other, and he says: ‘Incredible. Good morning Portsmouth.’ 

The dolphins come right up to the front of the boat, breaching the water and swimming on their sides

John says he has seen porpoise a few times in the area but he had never seen dolphins in the water before

Separate footage taken by Ashton shows more dolphins playing as a man says in the background: ‘I’ve changed my mind, I think there’s hundreds.’

Ashton, an advertising photographer from nearby Southsea, Hampshire, said afterwards: ‘We saw a fin and started joking that it was a shark. 

‘Then we saw more and more – we were surrounded. There must have been more than 100 dolphins in the water.

‘We didn’t catch any fish – but we caught the best sight of the day.’

John Davenport (front) slowed down the boat to see if the dolphins would come to swim at the front. Back: Ashton Keiditsch

John, a sales director also from Southsea, was piloting the Boston Whaler sport fishing boat when he slowed down to capture the special sight on video.

He said: ‘I’ve seen porpoise a few times before but I’ve never seen dolphins in the water.

‘I wondered if I slowed down the boat whether they would come to the front of the boat, which I’d seen happen on documentaries and TV shows.

‘They were actually turning side on and looking up at us. It was very unusual.’