A POD of rare white-beaked dolphins have been spotted off the coast of Essex for the first time in more than two decades.

Stacey Belbin, who runs Lady Grace Boat Trips from Mersea Island, was out sea fishing on Scott Belbin’s boat, Galloper of Essex, when she spotted the animals’ black dorsal fins breaching in and out of the water.

Shocked by what she had seen, Stacey quickly snapped some pictures of the animals using her phone.

Once back on dry land, she contacted the relevant authorities, who confirmed it was the first sighting of the animals in the area since 2000.

Stacey said it was an example of the Essex coast “blooming with nature”.

Rare white-beaked dolphins have been spotted off the Essex coast for the first time in 20 years. Picture: Stacey Belbin

Rare white-beaked dolphins have been spotted off the Essex coast for the first time in 20 years. Picture: Stacey Belbin

She said: “As we moved to another hotspot fishing mark my husband had lined up for us with the tide, he spotted a pod of something off the port side of our catamaran heading straight for us. He knew immediately they were too big to be porpoises.

“A few moments later there was a whole pod of between eight and 12 dolphins hanging around resting off our bow, breaching every few minutes.”

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The majority of the dolphins were adults and between 10ft and 12ft in size, however, Stacey also said she spotted a couple of calves, each about 4ft, in the water

She said: “We stopped motoring to watch in awe as these beautiful creatures surfaced right in front of us.

“Completely dismayed at what we were seeing, dolphins on the Essex coastline, that can’t be right, can it?

“With jet black backs and dorsals which were tall, curved and sickle shaped, and white and pale horizontal stripes down their bodies with short, rounded and blunt beaks, we knew these were not any dolphin we had seen before.”

Rare white-beaked dolphins have been spotted off the Essex coast for the first time in 20 years. Picture: Stacey Belbin

Rare white-beaked dolphins have been spotted off the Essex coast for the first time in 20 years. Picture: Stacey Belbin

After returning to dry land, Stacey spoke to the British Divers Marine Life Rescue, university professors and the SeaWatch team to confirm the sighting with experts.

She said: “The SeaWatch team said this is the first white-beaked dolphin sighting in Essex which has been submitted to them in the past 21 years.

“What an amazing sighting for us and an even more incredible capture for history through the wonders of iPhone technology.”

White beaked dolphins can grow up to 3.2m long and weigh up to 350kg.

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