DOLPHIN LANGUAGE

Dolphins just don't know when to shut up!


In fact they are almost making some kind of sounds. These are either about navigation and understanding their surroundings or about communication with other dolphins.  

Echolocation sounds are made in their nasal passages just below their blowholes, and are called clicks. Clicks are sometimes produced very close together and in strings. They sound like buzzes or chirps, and beamed forward from a special "lens" in the dolphin’s head. These sounds are produced behind the melon, an oily, slightly off-center lump that makes up the dolphin’s forehead. The sound waves are focused forward through it.

Scientists don't really know how the melon works, but it does seem to amplify and clarify the dolphin’s echolocation sounds. The dolphin's echolocation is so good that in one experiment, a dolphin located a marble-sized sphere at more than the length of a football field. 

Dolphins can produce high-pitched whistles and squeals in their larynx. These can rapidly change pitch in the same way we change the pitch in our voice. As far as scientists can tell, the whistles are a form of communication with other dolphins, and squeals are used to express alarm or sexual excitement.

Dolphin Communication

There have been lots of studies done to try to decide if dolphins actually have a language. Many of these studies have not been done very well and there are some extravagant claims that aren't supported by fact.

Others take the view that the dolphin's sounds are of no significance and that they are little more than fish. This point of view makes exploitation and even killing if these incredible mammals even more justifiable.

Most scientists feel that dolphins are highly intelligent. They have a greater brain-to-body-weight ratio (important in determining real intelligence) than any other mammal besides man. The appearance of the dolphin brain is similar to that of a human brain.They have brain ratios twice the size of any of the great apes. Some researchers place them in approximately the same category as our early humanoid ancestors. 




There is no doubt that dolphins communicate (like many other animals). We know that they communicate emotional states, danger, and the location of food. Their communication also seems to build group awareness within the pod.

But do dolphins actually have language?

The answer seems to be "yes". Dolphins tend to stay within their own pods, and may have trouble understanding outsider pods. In some studies individual dolphins appeared to have names. Dolphins used specific whistles in the presence of certain other dolphins. Different whistles were used with different dolphins as if calling them by name. 




While not proof, dolphins, like humans, take turns when making sounds as if information is being passed back and forth. Also like humans, dolphins use specific patterns in their "language".

Dolphins are indeed amazing mammals. Perhaps one day we will understand them better and be able to communicate with them. In the mean time they deserve our respect and a healthy ocean to swim in.

DOLPHINS IN CAPTIVITY AND DOLPHIN LANGUAGE

We have all heard the sounds dolphins can make when they seem to communicate with each other or with their human trainers. We also know that they can navigate with their eyes covered using echolocation.

Research has shown that dolphin echolocation is so good that they can detect a 75 mm object at distances up to 100 m away.

The debate over dolphin language goes on and will until we can 'crack' the code. In the mean time there is mounting evidence that they do communicate ideas in a sophisticated way.

Scientists have shown that the same species of dolphin living in the English Channel stick to either the French or English side and never mix. Is it possible they stay apart because they don't speak the same language?




At the moment we believe they have vocabularies similar to apes complete with food sounds, danger sounds, and 'seeking' sounds. There are many more sounds that we don't understand at all. 

Dolphins can assemble short strings of sounds the way we make sentences. We are also pretty sure that they use distinct sounds to represent themselves; they have a name and this is recognized by other dolphins.




Noise probably isn't a problem for dolphins in captivity but it is for wild dolphins. In Datai Bay where I work, I sometimes hear dolphin whistles but they are often drowned out by the sounds of trawlers and heavy ships passing.

Lots of ambient noise would be like trying to chat at a rock concert. This could make communication and echolocation pretty difficult. More about this in another post.

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