A stocky, short-beaked dolphin that lives in deep offshore waters.
A dark band runs from the eye toward the pectoral flipper, but its shape and darkness vary with sex and geography. The back is blue-gray, the underside pale, and the small dorsal fin is triangular.
Researchers built a density model for Fraser’s dolphins in the U.S. Navy Atlantic Fleet Training and Testing (AFTT) study area. The 2022 version combined aerial and shipboard surveys collected from 1992 to 2020: about 1.387 million kilometres of survey effort, with 14 groups and 753 dolphins recorded for this species.
There were too few groups, and survey coverage was too uneven, for a conventional density-surface model or standard abundance estimate. Instead, the report assumed dolphins occurred in waters at least 200 m deep with mean sea-surface temperatures of 22°C or higher, then treated density within that region as uniform. The authors describe this as a simplified substitute, so the map should be read with its assumptions in view.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
The 2022 AFTT model used 14 groups and 753 Fraser’s dolphins from surveys spanning 1992–2020, but sightings were too sparse for a conventional density-surface model. It used a simplified uniform-density assumption within a defined deep, warm-water area. The model offers regional context, not a precise population census or global conservation status; additional observations would help resolve the distribution.