BRITAIN, May 7, 2006: The results of a study by Vincent Janik of Sea Mammal Research Unit at St. Andrews University has proven that dolphins actually communicate with each other. Data for Janik’s work was based on observations done with a group of bottlenose dolphins in Sarasota Bay, Florida over a period of 30 years. The news release explains, “They have made extensive recordings of the noises made by individual dolphins and isolated the sounds thought to be their ‘signature whistles’ or names. In the study some of the Sarasota Bay animals were corralled in a net. The researchers then played synthetic versions of the signature whistles of other dolphins through underwater loudspeakers to see if they would evoke a response in the captive animals. The use of synthetic whistles ruled out the possibility that the animals might simply be recognizing the sound of each other’s voices. They found that dolphins responded strongly to the whistles of their relatives and associates while generally ignoring those of dolphins to whom they had no link.” Janik says, “Bottlenose dolphins are the only animals other than humans to have been shown to transmit identity information independent of the caller’s voice.”
Denise Herzing, research director at the Wild Dolphin Project at Florida Atlantic University, said, “It was already clear that many of the 77 known cetacean (whale and dolphin) species had rudimentary languages. We know that dolphins’ brains are nearly as large and complex, relative to body size, as those of humans. They have evolved to be intelligent and that implies being able to communicate.”
The article mentions that other research has found parrots, crows and primates to have highly developed language skills. For example, chimpanzees at Georgia State University have been taught to communicate in English using computer keyboards and Prairie Dogs have been found to share a language of 100 words. Donald Broom, professor of animal welfare at Cambridge University, sums it up, “Species living in large groups all have advanced communication skills. They have a complex social structure where they have to live with others, negotiate friendships and find mates. If dolphins are using names, I expect we will find the same in other species with similar lifestyles.”