Bottle Nose Dolphins May Address Loved Ones by "Name"

By Pattie Dobranski

Humans may not be the only species that can answer the proverbial question, "What's in a name?"

A study published in a recent issue of "Proceedings of the Royal Society B", a British biological research journal, examines how bottlenose dolphins may share the ability to call the "names" of family and friends through distinctive whistles, rather than words.

25 Years of Research

While earlier research discovered bottlenose dolphins named themselves by emitting unique whistles that announce their presence, this new study suggests they mimic the whistles of others to seemingly call them by name.

For this study, researchers from the University of St. Andrews Sea Mammal Research Unit in Scotland assembled 25 years worth of acoustic findings on both wild bottlenose dolphins and captive males, all living in Florida, to draw these conclusions. They also found there was no difference in the development of the name calling between the captive and wild dolphins.

Across the Miles

The dolphins used this name calling technique when trying to reunite with a friend or family member across the ocean, the study explained. Incredibly, the name calling whistles were detected as far as 12.4 miles away. Scientists noted the ability to travel this distance was affected by the depth of the water and the frequency of the dolphin’s specific whistle.