The dolphin appears near Alma Resort in Cam Ranh Bay. (Photo: VNS/VNA)

At first, swimmers thought it was a shark when they saw its fin and scrambled to get out of the water, but when Alma Resort lifeguards confirmed it was a dolphin, visitors relaxed and remarked they felt lucky to witness the moment.

“It’s not every day you get to swim near a dolphin in crystal clear conditions,” said Nguyen Ngoc Tan, who filmed the dolphin this week, saying the mammal seemed “fearless yet friendly” as he and his fellow lifeguards approached it via jet ski.

Estimating it to be 3.5m long, Tan and his colleagues said the mammal appeared weak and may have been slightly injured before coming closer to the shoreline. It later swam back to deeper areas.

The lifeguards have spoken with various wildlife conservation and research groups, including the Centre for Biodiversity Conservation and Endangered Species, to inform them about the sighting.

“Schools of dolphins were recently sighted a little bit further out in nearby Nha Trang’s seas but we’ve never seen a dolphin this close to the shore before,” Alma’s general manager Herbert Laubichler-Pichler said. “The dolphins may be attracted to calmer waters as a result of less tourism activity in the wake of COVID-19”.