Pod of dolphins spotted at Branksome beach by drone

The stunning drone footage was captured by Gee Findley, 24, at around 5.30am on Tuesday, May 2.

Gee, who is in the UK visiting family in Poole, witnessed the spectacle with her partner.

She said: “We both thought we saw some movement in the water as we were coming down the hill to the car park.”

“We thought they can’t be dolphins? Then we saw a dolphin jump out of the water.”

She said there was a “massive pod” of at least 20 dolphins around 100metres to the left of Branksome Chine beach with some of them feeding at the time.

It is the first time Gee, who works on board yachts overseas, had ever seen a pod of dolphins in UK waters.

The chance encounter happened as Gee and her partner had woken up early due to jetlag.

The pair decided to take the drone out to capture the sunrise at around 5am.

She said: “The morning was perfect.”

Gee and her partner watched the dolphins for around five to 10 minutes before the pod swam away in the direction of Old Harry Rocks.

She said: “They were so close to the beach you could have swam out to them.”

Gee said around three of four people on the beach at the time.

She said one man asked her partner what they were looking at and said he’d been visiting the beach for 21 years and had never seen dolphins there previously.

Gee’s mum Nicky shared the footage on Twitter with the message: “I can’t believe it! I’ve been walking at Branksome Chine almost every day for 28 years and never seen a dolphin.

“My daughter Gee Findley comes to visit and on her first morning captures this pod with her drone.”

According to the Dorset Wildlife Trust, bottlenose dolphins are the most commonly seen species off Dorset.

The trust said there are approximately 10 different marine mammals in the cetacean family that have been recorded in Dorset. 

Sightings have included porpoises, bottlenose, common, striped and white-beaked dolphins. 

Anyone who sees a dolphin is urged to keep a safe distance and keep dogs on leads.