‘Extremely rare’ sea creature seen hunting off Australia by drone pilot. See it

A drone pilot in Australia recently captured footage of a highly elusive sea creature on the hunt.

The incident took place off the coast of Magnetic Island, located a few miles offshore from mainland Queensland.

While flying an aerial drone low over the ocean, Oliver Scheele spotted an Australian snubfin dolphin pursuing a fish.

A video posted by Scheele shows the pale-bodied marine mammal breaching the surface and making hair-pin turns while tracking the fish.

“These dolphins are extremely rare, living in inshore areas,” Scheele wrote in a May 19 Instagram post. “They are a vulnerable species due to human impacts.”

“Seeing these dolphins was a privilege as they are so rare,” he told Yahoo News.

Scheele’s brother, a marine biologist, told the outlet this is the first sighting the pair have made of the species, following six years of searching.

An ‘extremely rare’ species

Australian snubfin dolphins were only discovered as a distinct species in 2005, according to Whale and Dolphin Conservation, a non-profit. Prior to that, they were thought to be a secluded population of Irrawaddy dolphins, another rare species native to Southeast Asia.

“There are clear differences between the two populations that had not been previously recognized and these were confirmed by the studies on DNA,” a researcher who helped uncover the species told NBC News in 2005.

The relatively newfound creatures are distinguished by their round, melon-shaped heads, light coloring and small dorsal fins — from which their “snubfin” name is derived.

The animals — which can grow up to nearly 9 feet in length and weigh up to 280 pounds — are found along stretches of Australia and Papua New Guinea.

Because they prefer shallow, coastal waters, they are at risk from human activity and are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The marine species is classified as protected in the waters off Australia and “their future remains uncertain,” according to Dolphin Research Australia, a non-profit conservation organization.

The animals are generally sheepish around boats, and they have been seen displaying a peculiar spitting behavior, which “remains a mystery.”

Much else about the dolphins, including the specifics of their reproductive habits, remains unknown.

This story was originally published May 28, 2025 at 9:56 AM with the headline "‘Extremely rare’ sea creature seen hunting off Australia by drone pilot. See it."