Sculpture of Fungie in Dingle, by Bud Bottoms
For almost forty years, until his disappearance in October 2020, Fungie the dolphin was arguably the most famous sea creature in the world.
Fungie first appeared in Dingle, Co Kerry in 1983, tracking fishing boats entering and leaving the harbour. A male common bottlenose dolphin, standing thirteen feet tall and weighing around 500 pounds, he was a formidable presence, but seemed happy to play with those who dared enter the water to swim with him.
Soon people were traveling from all over the world to meet the Dingle Dolphin, and many credit him with driving tourism to the town in a way nothing else had since filming Ryan’s Daughter in 1969.
One of those who swam with Fungie was the late American artist and environmental activist James “Bud” Bottoms, best known for his dolphin fountain at Stearns Wharf in his hometown of Santa Barbara, California. Bottoms had already made a number of monumental sculptures – many of them marine-themed – all over the world when he first arrived in Dingle on holiday with his wife Carole Ann in 1990.
“Both Bud and I had a great interest in marine animals,” says Carole Ann, “and in particular dolphins. So when we heard about Fungie, we wanted to go out and meet him.
“I had swum with dolphins before, in Santa Barbara and Hawaii. But it was cold the day we went out to Dingle, and there was only one wetsuit on the boat. So I said, ‘Go ahead, Bud.’ He jumped into the water and Fungie swam around him and even touched him with his nose.
Upon their return to Santa Barbara, the couple decided to commemorate their visit to Dingle with the gift of a dolphin sculpture. “It would be partly in honor of Fungie and partly to remind people that he was still a wild creature and should be respected.”
The Bottoms returned to Dingle for a number of vacations afterwards, and Bud swam with Fungie again in 1997, but the carving project took a few years to complete. “Bud spoke to his foundry, and they agreed to donate their services, using the lost wax process to cast the bronze sculpture.”
It involves pouring molten metal into a mold created from a wax model. Once the mold is made, the wax is then melted and flows.
“Then there was a man from Texas who had swum with Fungie,” says Carole Anne. “He had a shipping company, and when he heard what we were doing he donated the shipping costs. But it was very late in 1999 when the Fungie sculpture finally arrived in Dingle.”
The Bottoms flew over at the same time. “We all went out to celebrate the New Year and took the next day off to recuperate. And then the sculpture was unveiled on January 2, as part of the millennium celebrations.
“It was a great event,” says John Moriarty of Lord Baker’s Restaurant in Dingle, who was instrumental in finding a site for the sculpture, outside the marina’s tourist information office. “The whole city came out for the occasion.”
Senator Tom Fitzgerald, Chairman of the Dingle Harbor Commissioners, performed the unveiling and explained that ‘no trip to Dingle is now complete without seeing Fungie. It attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors.
Bud Bottoms described Fungie as “the friendliest and most interactive dolphin in the world”, but warned that “we need to be waking up to the environment and nature”.
Bottoms died aged 90 in 2018. He is survived by Carole Ann and her sons, Hollywood actors Timothy, Joseph and Ben Bottoms.
“Bud was a lovely man,” Moriarty says. “He stayed at my sister’s house when he was here on vacation, and he would come up to my house for dinner. He was very popular in the area. I often met him in Santa Barbara. Dingle is twinned with Santa Barbara, and I’ve been there five times as president of the Dingle Chamber of Commerce. Bud always came to our functions.
Fungie disappeared from Dingle Harbor just two years after the death of the artist who captured the dolphin. “Everyone knew this couldn’t go on forever,” Moriarty says, “and the day would come when there would be no more Fungie in the harbor.” They were able to diversify; many of the same boats would make trips to the Skelligs these days. I walk to the lighthouse every day and the boats are always going in or out; they are as busy as ever.
“And the Fungie sculpture will always be there. I see kids climbing on it every day and people always want to be photographed with it.
Carole Ann Bottoms has not returned to Dingle since the unveiling. “But now I feel like I should come back. It’s wonderful to think that people still enjoy Bud’s sculpture, and I hope they read the plaque on it. It reads: ‘All creatures on Earth are connected in the great web of creation. Let us be stewards.’”
Further information : budbottoms.com; dingle-peninsula.ie