Dolphins make unique whistles to say ‘hello’

Mar 02, 2012 |

Washington

Dolphins are well known for their playful and gregarious nature. Now, a new study has found that these mammals use specific melodies called signature whistles to introduce themselves when they meet new groups.
These melodious exchanges are the key part of a greeting sequence that allows dolphins to recognise each other in the wild, researchers said.
“It’s not just ‘I’m so-and-so,’ but the other information also in that whistle is, ‘I’m so-and-so, and I’m interested in making contact in a friendly way, I’m not attacking’,” study researcher Vincent Janik, an expert in animal communication at the University of St. And-rews in Scotland, said. Signature whistles of dolphins were first discovered in the 1960s, but new research is the first to reveal how these sea mammals use the sounds when one pod meets another in the ocean.

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