Dolphin Talk

Dolphin Talk

Dolphins swim, splash, glide, and leap gracefully over the waves in every ocean on Earth. Sailors once called the ocean a 'silent world. ” But it's not. The dolphin's dark underwater world is alive with sounds: crashing waves, the crackle of snapping shrimp, the songs of humpbacks, the shrieks of killer whales, and the grunts, croaks, and squeaks of a million fishes.

People use spoken sounds to let other people know who they are, where they are, and how they feel. Dolphins use whistling sounds to let other dolphins know who they are, where they are, and maybe even how they feel.

A dolphin makes sounds by pushing air back and forth between air sacs in the nasal cavity below its blowhole. These clicks, whistles, and squeaks move out into the water.

These dolphin sounds are made like the sounds you make when you stretch the neck of a balloon between your fingers and then let the air escape slowly. Babies make gurgling sounds and squeals before they learn to talk. Dolphin calves chirp and squeak before they learn to whistle. When this child gets lost, her mother looks for her. She calls her name loudly. The child recognizes her mother's voice and calls back. The mother recognizes the familiar sound and finds her child.

When a young dolphin gets lost, its mother looks for it. She may release bubbles and whistle loudly. The calf recognizes its mother's whistle and calls back. The mother recognizes the familiar call and finds her calf.