X Factor star Joe McElderry joins dolphin spotters for 'emotional' display in hometown South Shields

Former X Factor winner, Joe McElderry shared a video of the pod of dolphins leaping out of the water from the beach in South Shields on Sunday, June 21.

Taking to Twitter to share his excitement, the singer said: “Sat on the beach tonight and go to see the dolphins playing and jumping!”

Earlier in the day he also revealed he had come up close and personal with the pod while out on his paddle board, when they ‘popped up’ less than two metres away.

He wrote: “Been on my paddle board! Less than two metres away two dolphins popped up swimming around looking for fish! Made my week!”

The singer, who performed at the Customs House on his 29th birthday last week, was among many who caught a glimpse of the pod over the weekend.

Photographer Stu Thompson captured some stunning shots of the display from South Shields pier on Sunday evening – describing it on Twitter as an “emotional sight”.

On Saturday, June 20, Sunderland amateur photographer Ian Maggiore snapped the same pod at Roker, Marsden and then Souter all in the same day.

And a few days earlier on June 17, South Shields wildlife enthusiast Laurence Younger spotted them off the coast at Marsden.

In May, an expert from Durham Wildlife Trust confirmed a sighting of three orcas – also known as killer whales – swimming off the coast at Seaham.

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