Two men accused of disturbing a dolphin while they swam in the sea after a drunken night out have told a court they believed the animal enjoyed itself.

Michael Jukes, 27, and Daniel Buck, 26, from Folkestone, Kent, swam with the female dolphin known as Dave off the coast of Sandgate after it swam up to them in June last year

They were arrested and charged with recklessly disturbing a wild animal under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

The bottlenosed dolphin became a tourist attraction and was frequently spotted off the seaside town after getting separated from its group. In the months before the arrests it had not been seen and there was speculation it had died.

The two men had attended a friend's house party where they had both been drinking heavily, Dover magistrates cout heard. At around 5am they and another friend walked to a garage for cigarettes and then decided to have a swim.

Buck told the court he was the first to go into the water and had not seen the animal at first. He was scared as it approached him as he swam about 10 feet out from shore.

"If I'd seen the dolphin first I wouldn't have gone for a swim," he said.

Jukes denied witness reports that he had grabbed the dolphin's dorsal fin and tried to climb on to its back. "I didn't hurt the dolphin in any way. I didn't think I did anything wrong."

Nearby residents called the police to complain about the noise and the two men were arrested.

Both denied they ignored officers' orders to swim ashore and said they were swept further out to sea by the current rather than because they were trying to get away.

James Barnett of British Divers Marine Life Rescue told the court that the more interaction solitary dolphins had with humans, the less likely they were to rejoin their group.

Barnett, a vet with nearly 20 years' experience who has been involved in many marine animal rescues across the country, said that if dolphins become too familiar with humans they could become unpredictable and dangerous and even make sexual advances.

Spending too much time in shallow water made them more receptive to catching bacterial diseases and put them at greater risk of becoming entangled in fishing nets and damaged by boats, he said.

Jukes argued in court that Dave's celebrity status meant she had already had a lot of human contact.

Both men have pleaded not guilty. The case continues.