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\nFungie disappeared when the ATU project examining solitary dolphins was in its infancy<\/p>\n
A study has found that Fungie, once Ireland\u2019s best-known dolphin, had ties to both the Shannon Estuary bottlenose dolphins and a much larger offshore population.<\/p>\n
Scientists at Atlantic Technological University in Galway have used DNA recovered from a wetsuit worn during swims with Fungie to identify his ancestry.<\/p>\n
The solitary bottlenose dolphin lived in Daingean U\u00ed Ch\u00fais Harbour, Co Kerry from 1983 until he disappeared in October 2020.<\/p>\n
Fungie disappeared when the ATU project examining solitary dolphins was in its infancy.<\/p>\n
A solution came from Irish Whale and Dolphin Group member Denis O\u2019Regan, who wore the same wetsuit while regularly swimming with Fungie, provided it for DNA sampling.<\/p>\n
Several areas of the wetsuit were swabbed, and samples were sent for analysis.<\/p>\n
Laboratory testing confirmed that the genetic material recovered was dolphin DNA rather than human DNA, allowing researchers to investigate Fungie\u2019s genetic ancestry.<\/p>\n
Fungie\u2019s genetic mix<\/p>\n
Fungie\u2019s DNA ancestry was genetically a mix between Ireland\u2019s Shannon Estuary bottlenose dolphin population and the much larger Offshore population.<\/p>\n
It is believed to be unusual as bottlenose dolphins sampled in Ireland tend to be genetically assigned to one distinct population or another.<\/p>\n
The study published in the international journal Ecology and Evolution found that four of five well-known solitary dolphins studied in Irish waters were linked to offshore population.<\/p>\n
Scientist said the findings raise questions about the origin of Ireland’s solitary dolphins and why they remain apart from other dolphins and develop interactions with humans.<\/p>\n
\nFungie disappeared when the ATU project examining solitary dolphins was in its infancy<\/p>\n
Other solitary dolphins from the same population<\/p>\n
Five well-known solitary dolphins were sampled: Fungie in west Kerry, Nick in Cork Harbour, Finn in Carlingford Lough, Dusty in north Clare and Nimmo in Galway.<\/p>\n
Nick, Finn, Dusty and Nimmo- were genetically assigned to the Offshore population, while Fungie stood out because of his mixed ancestry.<\/p>\n
ATU PhD candidate and study co-author Se\u00e1n O\u2019Callaghan said the study which used non-invasive sampling techniques contributes to knowledge of solitary dolphins.<\/p>\n
“A lot of work has been done to record these unique solitary dolphins, but this study provides a new insight into some of these familiar dolphins using non-invasive sampling techniques and contributes significantly to the wider knowledge of solitary dolphins globally and from where they may originate,” Mr O\u2019Callaghan said.<\/p>\n
Questions remain about solitary of dolphins<\/p>\n
Founding member of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group and ATU Lecturer Dr Simon Berrow said why these mammals become solitary remains an important question.<\/p>\n
“”Why these dolphins seek human company rather than socialise with other bottlenose dolphins has long been a mystery.<\/p>\n
“Maybe they do not understand each other and use different vocal dialects, confounding communication, or perhaps they just have very different ecologies,” said Dr Berrow.<\/p>\n
Scientists have noted that Ireland has documented a high number of solitary dolphins in recent decades, with bottlenose dolphins accounting for most of these individuals.<\/p>\n
Publication completed in memory of the late Lorenzo de Bonis<\/p>\n
The research carries particular significance for the ATU team because it was led by the late Lorenzo de Bonis during his IMBRSea Master\u2019s studies.<\/p>\n
![\"Fungie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/00232027-614.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Mr de Bonis died in a rock-climbing accident in Baltimore, Co Cork last year. Colleagues completed the publication in his memory and as a legacy of his contribution to marine research.<\/p>\n
ATU lecturer Dr Luca Mirimin, who supervised Mr de Bonis and co-led the research alongside Dr Berrow, said it advances knowledge of the iconic marine mammals.<\/p>\n
“Publishing this work was important to advance our knowledge of such iconic marine mammals in Irish waters, but most importantly was a way to ensure that the work of Lorenzo was made publicly available to future generations of scientists,” she said.<\/p>\n
‘Enhancing intra-specific population genetic studies of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Irish waters by integrating least invasive sampling and environmental DNA\u2019 is published in the Ecology and Evolution open access Journal.<\/p>\n
It was authored by Lorenzo de Bonis, Bogna Griffin, Se\u00e1n O’Callaghan, M. Daly, J. Maes, Simon Berrow and Luca Mirimin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A study has found that Fungie, once Ireland\u2019s best-known dolphin, had ties to both the Shannon Estuary bottlenose…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":598746,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-598745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=598745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598745\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/598746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=598745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=598745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=598745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}