A rare snubfin dolphin has been spotted playing and jumping out of the water off the coast in Queensland.

Emma Schmidt, a ranger for Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, said she saw the endangered mammal frolicking with a pod of around 10 Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins.

She took a photograph of the 'smiling' dolphin off Hinchinbrook Island, south of Cairns, and nicknamed him 'snubby'.

'They are very rare, so this photo was just pure luck,' Ms Schmidt told the Townsville Bulletin.

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A rare snubfin dolphin (pictured) has been spotted playing and jumping out of the water off the coast in Queensland

'We were heading to Sunken Reef Bay and I noticed a pod of about 10 Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins and among them was this cute little snubby.

'It was playing and mucking around jumping out of the water and in the photo it looks like it's smiling.'

She said she has been working in the area for 12 years, but has only spotted the rare mammals twice.

Ms Schmidt revealed the Hinchinbrook Channel was a snubfin pod hotspot because of the sheltered inshore waters.

The 'highly social' dolphins can only be found in the waters off northern Australia (stock image)

Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service posted a picture of the mammal on its Facebook page, saying: 'Don't blink—it's a rare Australian snubfin dolphin (Orcaella heinsohni).

'Ranger Emma just spotted little snubby here taking a leisurely backstroke off Hinchinbrook Island National Park. Anyone know anything about these cheeky cetaceans?'

The 'highly social' dolphins can only be found in the waters off northern Australia as far south as the Gladstone region in Queensland.

They can grow to between 1.5m and 2.7m in length and they vary in colour from brownish grey to pale white.

Snubfin dolphins have a very blunt, round head and they take their name from their small, triangular ('snubby') dorsal fin.