The porpoise is a shy creature

Blackpool Environment Action Team (Beat) Nature Watch group wants to hear from fishermen or sailors who have seen porpoises off the Fylde Coast.

The group has been boosted by two sightings of porpoises in a week near Starr Gate.

Nature Watch also wants to hear from people who have spotted dolphins.

David McGrath, Sustainability Education Officer at Blackpool Council, spotted porpoises twice in the past week near Starr Gate including a pod of at least four earlier in the week.

"I only had a few minutes of my lunch break to spend bird watching by the Mirrorball," he said.

"Just beyond the surf was a small group of Eider ducks and very little else. Then a bit further out I saw the unmistakable black back and tiny dorsal fin of a cetacean briefly break the surface and disappear.

"This was my first sighting of a porpoise off Blackpool's coast having only seen them in northern Scotland before. "