Alma lifeguard Nguyen Ngoc Tan, who recently took a video footage of the dolphin, said the mammal seemed fearless yet friendly as he and his fellow lifeguards Nguyen Trung Phi and Vo Thanh Nhon approached it via jet ski.
“Our guests thought it was a shark when they saw its fin and scrambled to get out of the water,” Tan said. “When we confirmed it was a dolphin, they relaxed and remarked that they felt so lucky to chance this moment; it’s not every day you get to swim near a dolphin in crystal clear conditions.”
Estimating it to be 3,5 m long, Tan and his colleagues said the mammal appeared weak and may have been slightly injured before coming closer to the shoreline. It later swam back to deeper seas.
The lifeguards have spoken with various wildlife conservation and research groups, including the Centre for Biodiversity Conservation and Endangered Species, to inform them about the sighting.
