A number of 'lucky' residents spotted a pod of visiting dolphins off the coast of Piel Island.

For one such local, Brenda Lace, it was all about willing the mammals to make an appearance above the water for the rare photo shoot.

She added: "It was a case of trying to guess where they would pop up next."

Another of the fortunate people to make the sighting was Evelyn Corkill, who described how 'excited' she was feeling after the close encounter with an example of nature's 'beauty'.

"It was such a beautiful moment when I captured them swimming in front of Piel Island," she commented.

"I didn't even know they were there until a lovely couple behind me alerted me to the fact.

"Not only were we blessed with the dancing Northern Lights, we were blessed with beautiful sealife."

Sarah Neill, Cumbria Coordinator for the Sea Watch Foundation and British Divers Marine Life Rescue, explained the likely cause for the dolphins' popular appearance.

The Mail: Sarah NeillSarah Neill (Image: Submitted)

"We do have cetaceans around our coast including bottlenose and common dolphins, and sometimes white beaked, striped and Rissos dolphins," she said.

"In Cumbria, we most commonly see bottlenose dolphins, common dolphins and harbour porpoise, and usually in the warmer months.

"They can come close to shore to feed so the group seen around Piel could have been doing that."

Sarah also wanted to explain how people should act if another sighting is possible.

"We urge anyone who spots any whales, dolphins or porpoises around our Cumbria coast to share their sighting to Cumbria Whale and Dolphin Watch Facebook group - we collect sightings data for the Sea Watch Foundation," she said.

"People can also submit their sighting directly using the Sea Watcher App.

"If anyone is ever worried about a marine mammal being in distress, including seals or cetaceans, then they should call British Divers Marine Life Rescue."