Fraser's Dolphin

Fascinating facts about the Fraser's Dolphin

• Fraser's dolphins travel in sky-filled clouds of mammals, with groups that can swell from a hundred individuals to as many as a thousand, sometimes even two-and-a-half thousand. When a ship disturbs them, the whole pod can surge forward at 28 km/h, slicing the water like a school of silver arrows.
• Fraser's dolphins were first recognized from a single skull found in 1895, but it took until 1971 for scientists to locate a whole specimen, washing up on Cocos Island, South Australia and South Africa. This gap highlights how elusive deep-water species can be, and why many aspects of their biology remain a mystery despite their wide tropical distribution.
• Although sightings have risen since the 1980s, no global population estimate exists for Fraser's dolphins, leaving their conservation status data-deficient. They are listed on Appendix II of the CMS and covered by multiple regional cetacean MoUs, meaning international cooperation is essential to monitor and protect a species that roams the deep tropical seas yet remains largely unseen.
• A newborn Fraser's dolphin fits on a kitchen counter, just 1 m (3 ft 3 in) long and 20 kg (44 lb) heavy, but by adulthood it swells to 2.75 m (9 ft) and 200 kg (440 lb).
• These dolphins diving to depths of 200 m (660 ft)-500 m (1,600 ft) where sunlight barely reaches. They rely solely on echolocation to locate fish, squid and shrimp in this pitch-black realm.

Sources

Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.

• Wikipedia

At a glance

About the Fraser's Dolphin

In the warm, tropical waters of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, the Fraser's Dolphin dances through the waves with effortless elegance, its sleek, grey body undulating as it pursues the abundant fish and squid that fuel its energetic lifestyle. With a playful, inquisitive nature, it often approaches boats and surfers, its curiosity getting the better of it as it investigates these strange, two-legged creatures that share its domain. As it breaks the surface, its dorsal fin slices through the water, leaving a trail of glittering, sun-kissed droplets in its wake, a mesmerizing spectacle that showcases the dolphin's remarkable agility and joie de vivre.

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