Fungie has been named the Guinness World Records’ oldest dolphin living alone

He has spent 36 years boppin' around Dingle.

Fungie the dolphin has officially been named as the Guinness World Records’ longest recorded solitary dolphin. The dolphin was first spotted off the coast of Dingle back in 1983, and has become a local ever since. According to the Guinness World Records, Fungie, who is a bottlenose dolphin, is at least 40 years old. Pretty impressive for him. Bottlenose dolphins have an average lifespan of 30-50 years, so there's plenty of time left in the main man. The Guinness World Records announced Fungie’s achievement on September 18. The announcement came following a 2019 report into documented solitary whales and dolphins across the seas, conducted by the international charitable organisation Marine Connection. The Marine Connection report identified our very own Fungie as the world’s longest-living solitary dolphin. According to the report, Bottlenose dolphins are the most frequently observed solitary species of whales and dolphins. Apparently Fungie narrowly beat out another dolphin called JoJo, who lives in the waters off Turks & Caicos islands in the Caribbean. US wildlife advocate Dean Bernal, who is JoJo's official guardian, confirmed that JoJo first arrived in 1984. And while this is an impressive achievement, it's also kind of sad in a way. Poor aul Fungie has no mates.