Two men are facing charges for disturbing Dave the dolphin

Two men accused of disturbing a dolphin when they swam in the sea with it after a night out told a court today that they believed the animal had "enjoyed itself".Michael Jukes, 27, and Daniel Buck, 26, said they swam with Dave the dolphin off the coast of Sandgate, near Folkestone, Kent, after it approached them in June last year.

The pair appeared at Dover Magistrates' Court charged with recklessly disturbing a wild animal under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.The bottle-nosed dolphin became a popular tourist attraction for visitors to Folkestone but a lack of recent sightings has led to speculation that it has died.The animal, which is actually a female, had been spotted off the coast of the seaside town for months beforehand and was a solitary dolphin that had become separated from its group.The court heard the two men had attended a party at a friend's house where they had both been drinking heavily.At around 5am they and another friend had walked to a nearby garage for cigarettes and then decided to have a swim in the sea.

Buck, giving evidence, told magistrates that he had been the first to go in the water and had not realised the dolphin was nearby.He said at first he was scared of the animal as it approached him as he swam about 10 feet out from the shore."If I'd seen the dolphin first I wouldn't have gone for a swim," he said.Jukes denied reports by witnesses that he had grabbed hold of the dolphin's dorsal fin and tried to climb on top of it to ride on its back.

He said: "I didn't hurt the dolphin in any way. I didn't think I did anything wrong".The two men were arrested after residents living in nearby properties called the police to complain about the noise they were making.They denied they had ignored officers orders to swim ashore and said they were swept further out to sea by the current rather than because they were attempting to get away.

James Barnett, of the British Divers Marine Life Rescue, also gave evidence and said that the more interaction solitary dolphins have with humans the less likely they are to rejoin their group.Mr Barnett, a vet, with nearly 20 years' experience who has been involved in many marine animal rescues across the country said that when dolphins become too familiar with humans they can become unpredictable and dangerous and even make sexual advances towards them.

Also the longer amount of time they are encouraged to spend in shallow water makes them more receptive to catching bacterial diseases and puts them at greater risk of becoming entangled in fishing nets or damaged by boats.

However, Jukes argued that Dave the dolphin had already experienced a significant amount of human contact prior to the night of June 9 as he had become something of a local celebrity for up to a year beforehand.Pipe-fitter Jukes of Castle Hill Avenue, Folkestone and ground-worker Buck of Church Road, Folkestone, both deny disturbing the dolphin.