Bottlenose dolphins can follow “recipes”, help other species in pain, and probably do math according to studies so it is no surprise that they can also call each other by name through unique whistles.
Previous studies have shown that each dolphin has a “signature whistle”, which they use in big group setting, most of the time.
Since the 1960’s, it is believed that dolphins have a name and studies of captive dolphins have shown that the animals are reactive to the whistles of dolphins they know.
Whitney Friedman, a dolphin-behavior expert at the University of California, San Diego, asserted that a dolphin will react when hearing its own signature whistle, repeating that whistle back in what seems to be like “Yup, I’m here. Did you call my name?”
The research was conducted by a group of scientists on a boat off eastern Scotland who joined a group of wild dolphins and even recorded a sound when one of the dolphins announced itself with a signature whistle, like “Joey!”
Later, they played the sound “Joey!” calling back to the dolphins and the dolphin they named Joey responded with the same sound as if saying “Yup, I’m here.”
The scientists noticed that when they play recorded whistles, dolphins from the same population responds but those dolphins do not when a whistle from a different population of dolphins are played back.
They concluded that signature whistles are not just noises, they’re signal to which they answer back – a "fantastic contribution" toward understanding how dolphins communicate, said Friedman, a National Geographic grantee who was not part of the new study.
The discovery is a confirmation that uniqueness is vital for dolphins, which form complex relationships within tight-knit communities.
The study was published in the July 22 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“What's more, the ocean is noisy and visibility is poor, so there's a greater need for sounds that indicate an animal's identity. Having sounds that express identity might be a way for the group to know where each group member is at a given time, and the specific identity of that dolphin”, said Jeremy Karnowski, also a UCSD dolphin-communication expert who was not involved in the new study told Huffington Post.
“Building on this study, scientists could look at the two other types of dolphin vocalizations. One is the ‘clicks’ dolphins make during echolocation—the use of built-in sonar that helps dolphins find prey—and the other is ‘burst-pulse’ calls that sound like buzzing and squeaking. These ‘other vocalizations might have meanings’. The study also raises other questions, like exactly when and how often dolphins address each other. Perhaps most intriguing: Do dolphins use these names to talk about each other behind their backs?”, Karnowski stated in an e-mail.
