Dolphin named after woman who died from cancer

Ghislaine Pronk would spot the dolphins from her paddleboard

A dolphin has been named after a woman who died from lung cancer.

Ghislaine Pronk, 54, who often visited Roker in Sunderland to watch dolphins, died on 27 October after being diagnosed with cancer about a year before.

A young male bottlenose dolphin regularly spotted in the area has since been named Pronk in her memory.

"It’s very special and means a lot to me," Mrs Pronk's daughter, Sharlene Kas, said.

"She loved it so much here and she would have liked it so much knowing a dolphin was named after her."

Pronk will be added to a list of dolphins which have been sighted off the coast of north-east England.

A young male bottlenose dolphin has been named Pronk

Ms Kas, who moved with her mother from the Netherlands to Horden, County Durham, about three years ago, added: "We always went to watch the dolphins together and over time got to know a lot more people.

"We became closer and closer, more like a family. There are a lot of nice memories."

Mrs Pronk eventually became part of Dolphin Spotting North East, a community group founded in 2019.

Sharlene Kas said her mother loved to visit Roker, Sunderland

Kim Willis, who helps to run the group, said Mrs Pronk was a "lovely friend" and would be a "huge miss".

The former Sunderland University lecturer said: "She was just such a lovely person and had a real zest for life.

"She just wanted to be here, even when she'd been going through her cancer treatment. She was so kind and incredibly brave."

'Huge contribution'

The North East Cetacean Project (NECP), along with Aberdeen University, is creating an official catalogue of dolphins living off the coast.

Such dolphins are identified through a series of pictures and assigned their own "code" or name, which will help track their movements.

Jo Richardson, from the project, said she had got to know Mrs Pronk through her regular visits to Roker.

She said: “I wanted to do something as a tribute to her because dolphin spotters like her make huge contributions to the research we’re doing.

"One of the things the dolphins have done is bring people together and created friendships, which is how I came to know and love Ghislaine."

Ghislaine Pronk's friends and family met to remember her on the seafront