A zoologist has dismissed suggestions a dolphin, seen in a video in Galway, is the famous Fungie.
The dolphin made a splash online on Sunday, when he was filmed jumping high out of the waters of Galway Bay.
It had been rumoured this could be Co Kerry's beloved Fungie, who has been missing since last October.
But Whale Watch West Cork member Nic Slocum told Lunchtime Live he believes it very unlikely that Fungie has moved.
"No he hasn't Andrea - the dolphin you saw jumping in that video is almost certainly a short-beaked common dolphin.
"It's kind of difficult because the film was taken into the sun, so it's difficult to tell exactly what species it is.
"But it's most likely to be a short-beaked common dolphin - and Fungie of course, as you probably know, is a bottle-nose dolphin.
This file photo shows Fungie in the Dingle Peninsula off the Kerry coast. Picture by: Sean Manion/RollingNews.ieHe said the dolphin in the new video is "almost certainly not" Fungie.
"But you can never say never, until you're right up close to him to identify the species.
"I would say that it's most unlikely that it's Fungie".
And Nic said the differences between the species can be obvious.
"The bottle-nose dolphin is a good two and a half-times bigger than the short-beaked common dolphin.
"They both jump out of the water like that, in the way that Fungie used to when he was down in Dingle, and of course short-beaked common dolphins do when there's boat activity."
Fungi had been living in Dingle Bay for around 37 years, but he was believed to be over 40 years old.
It had also been speculated that a lack of activity in the area, due to the pandemic, may have driven Fungie away.
His sudden absence, and the subsequent search for him, made international headlines last year.
