The video shows a long and unusual scuba-diving encounter with a dolphin under Swansea bridge.

"I've done more than a thousand scuba dives and I've seen a dolphin under the water probably three times ever," said Ryan, who co-owns Total Immersion Diving.

"Most of the time, the dolphins swim straight past. They never stick around. We swam with that dolphin for 45 minutes, which I have never heard of ever happening in Australian scuba diving."

The dolphin - nicknamed Lundgren - appeared to be playing with the divers.

"He was playing with one of my scuba cylinders," Ryan said.

And yes, the nickname comes from Dolph Lundgren - the actor who played Ivan Drago in Rocky IV.

Asked if he had a theory on why the dolphin was so friendly, Ryan said it could be down to the type of scuba gear they used.

"Normally when you use open-circuit scuba gear, you blow heaps of bubbles out. We're using rebreathers, which recirculate the gas around a closed loop so you don't get any bubbles coming out."

Marine life doesn't seem to like bubbles.

"They're noisy and loud and create electromagnetic disturbances," he said.

"It's been really noticeable when we go to Broughton Island and there's grey nurse shark colonies. If you swim near a shark blowing bubbles, it'll swim away.

"If you swim up to a shark with a rebreather, you can go right up to it and touch it."

As for the Swansea dolphin, Ryan said it had been there about three weeks.

"The bridge is absolutely full of fish life. It's like an aquarium under there. The dolphin won't go hungry.

"Hopefully it stays and we have a resident dolphin. It'd be a big attraction. There's not many places you can go and know that you have a reasonable chance of seeing one."

Newcastle East's John Clifton was at the Australian Open in Melbourne on Wednesday, watching Nick Kyrgios win in five sets against France's Ugo Humbert.

Kyrgios smashed an overhead shot that "pounded into the ground, which gave it the height and speed to reach us in the crowd".

John pulled off a superb catch, which was broadcast on national TV.

"It actually felt like it was coming towards me in slow motion and I was thinking, 'I better catch it clean and not drop it, or it could be very embarrassing'.

"Once I caught it, I was relieved and super-pumped with adrenaline.

"The match was the most exciting I've watched after going to the open every year for the last 20 years.

"Kyrgios saved two match points and there was so much drama - broken racquets, arguing with the umpire and the crowd was electric. Love him or hate him, he brings life to tennis."

For faster access to the latest Newcastle news download our NEWCASTLE HERALD APP and sign up for breaking news, sport and what's on sent directly to your email.

IN THE NEWS: