It was lovely to see - watch as pod of 20 dolphins put on spectacular display off Sunderland Harbour

The dolphins can be seen leaping from the water just outside of the Roker Harbour walls before riding the waves of a boat as it made its way back to Sunderland Marina.

The spectacular footage was captured by Paul McKenna who was out fishing with his friend.

Building site supervisor Paul, 49, said: “My friend has a boat and we had gone out fishing and were about half a mile out from the pier at Roker Harbour.

“It was about 8.30pm and we were just about to head in when we saw the dolphins. There was between 15 and 20 of them and they were leaping from the water. One got so close to the boat that we actually got soaked from the splash the dolphin made.

“As we began to make our way back to the marina the dolphins followed us into the harbour, riding the bow of the boat.

“The dolphins closest to the boat looked like juveniles as they were smaller than those which were further away.

“They stayed for around about 10 minutes and then disappeared.”

Paul and his friend regularly go fishing off the Sunderland coast and it’s not the first time they have seen dolphins. Before the closure of the pier, during the summer months people would often report seeing dolphins in the harbour area.

Paul added: “We sometime see maybe four or five dolphins in the distance, but I’ve ever seen this many and so close up.

“It was lovely to see, especially seeing the dolphins so close up.”