The Dolphins Who Call Each Other by Name
Bottlenose dolphins each invent their own whistle, and use it as a name. When scientists play a dolphin's whistle back, it answers.
What was reported
Scientists in Sarasota Bay, Florida, have studied the same community of wild bottlenose dolphins since 1970. They found that each dolphin develops a unique 'signature whistle' when young, and uses it for life.
Dolphins copy each other's signature whistles, especially when separated from a friend or mother, as if calling them by name. In a 2013 study, dolphins that heard a recording of their own whistle called back.
Explanations offered
Signature whistles help dolphins keep track of each other in murky water and in large groups. They're among the closest things to names known in any animal besides people.
- When
- Studied since 1970
- Where
- Sarasota Bay, Florida, USA
- Witnesses
- Marine biologists
- Status
- Confirmed
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