Australian snubfin dolphin

How it lives

Snubfin dolphins live in small groups, usually about 2 to 6 animals and sometimes up to 14 or 15. Most are found in shallow water under about 20 m deep, close to the coast, near river and creek mouths and seagrass beds, where they mostly forage and travel. Gestation is estimated at about 11 months, based on similar species. One study of 18 animals suggested a lifespan of around 30 years. Much of their life history is still unknown.

Where it goes

Snubfin dolphins seem to stay in home areas. Along the Queensland coast, small resident groups of roughly 50 to 150 animals use river mouths, estuaries and seagrass, and sightings between these areas are sparse. Genetic work on animals sampled about 300 km apart found very little exchange between sites (under 10 percent per generation, which is about 20 years), so these groups are largely isolated. I did not find tracking studies, so longer movements are not well known.

We only draw a journey on the map when scientists have tracked it or clearly documented it. For this animal we have not found one yet.

Populations

The species is found along the northern Australian coast from about Broome in Western Australia to the Brisbane River in Queensland, and is expected in southern New Guinea. There is no national population estimate. The only reliable local figures are small: fewer than 100 animals in Cleveland Bay, and fewer than 100 in the Fitzroy River region, the southernmost resident group. An aerial estimate of about 1,000 in the western Gulf of Carpentaria is questioned, because dolphins are hard to identify from the air in murky water. The IUCN lists the species as Vulnerable (2017). Australia has listed it as Vulnerable under national law since 5 March 2025, and Queensland and Western Australia also list it as Vulnerable. A 2013 study argued the Fitzroy River group on its own would qualify as Endangered.