Simon Sloan, from Corrie, Arran, was amazed to open his front door and see two pods of dolphins leaping in the water on Wednesday afternoon (NOV 8).
The 25-year-old ferry skipper instantly began filming the spectacular moment as the dolphins sped past mere feet from the coastline.
The dolphins leap high into the air as they careered down the west coast of Arran, but their large number came as a surprise to Simon – who estimates there were between 40 and 50 dolphins in the two pods.
Campaign group Save Scottish Seas roughly calculate that the entire West coast bottlenose dolphin population consists of about 45 animals.
The ferry skipper’s video has had 22,000 views since it was posted to Facebook on Wednesday (NOV 8).
Speaking on Friday (NOV 10), Simon said: “The dolphins were spotted right outside my house.
“We think there could have been 40 or 50 bottlenose dolphins traveling in two large pods. It was amazing to see them so close in and in such a large number.
“They were traveling very fast along the coast possibly chasing fish. It was quite spectacular when they started jumping out, sometimes two or three at a time doing acrobatics and then all together they would surge along the surface.
Social media users were quick to share their amazement at Simon’s video.
Andy Hardwick said: “Wow…so nice to see.”
Liz Jamieson added: “Absolutely fabulous, I just love Arran.”
Lorna Greig said: “How fabulous is that, well done Simon, you could be the next David Attenborough.”
Joanna Mackie commented: “Amazing. So close!”
While Paul Chandler said simply: “Super fab.”
The Clyde Marine Mammal Project reported that 2016 saw record numbers of marine life swimming past Scottish shores.
From 366 reports made by members of the public they revealed 1157 animals, including humpback whales and killer whales, passed through the Firth of Clyde.
