Eight lucky dolphin spotters encountered a mile-long super pod of over 1,500 dolphins off the Pembrokeshire coast yesterday (Sunday).

The Sea Trust volunteers carrying out a small boat survey in the water around around the Pembrokeshire islands when they were confronted by "a wildlife spectacle that was truly mind-blowing".

“We were heading in a big loop around the islands, trying to do our survey before the weather deteriorated," explained Sea Trust founder Cliff Benson.

As the boat approached the Smalls Lighthouse the group saw what appeared to be a blizzard in the distance.

"As we approached, we realised that the 'blizzard' was thousands of gannets spreads out over a mile or more," said Cliff.

Beneath them was a "living wall" of dolphins a mile long and several deep consisting of adult dolphins and their offspring.

"They just kept on coming pod after pod passing by the boat some came and looked at us but most just kept on going.

"The gannets were like an artillery bombardment continually diving in with an explosion of spray, just ahead of the line of dolphins."

Cliff says that the super pod must have consisted of many smaller pods joined together to chase a huge "bait ball" of fish. He compared the experience to David Attenborough’s footage of a super pod off the coast of South Africa.

This is not the first time that the Sea Trust charity has witnessed such a marine phenomena; in August 2005 a similar sight was filmed by Cliff off Strumble Head.

"I did not expect to see such an awesome sight again in my life time," said Cliff. "This was, in wildlife terms, like winning the lottery a second time. This is what Sea Trust is all about, local people keeping an eye on, and taking responsibility for, our own marine wildlife"

This second sighting has lead Cliff to speculate that the Pembrokeshire super pod could be a regular phenomenon like the one in South Africa, but with limited funding to carry out small boat surveys it is difficult to know.

"To really understand what is happening out there we need support to continue long term monitoring," said Cliff.

"With a new Marine bill on its way, how can anyone make the right decisions without this kind of information?”