Air Date: Week of January 20, 2023

Dolphins swim in a pod off the coast of Kaikoura, New Zealand. (Photo: Pablo Heimplatz, Unsplash)

Bottlenose dolphins can use clicking noises for echolocation and navigation, and they speak to each other using special whistles. Wild Quest recorded these dolphin noises in the Bahamas.

Transcript

BASCOMB: Bottlenose dolphins live in temperate and tropical waters worldwide, including the Black Sea.

[DOLPHIN SOUNDS]

BASCOMB: To echolocate and navigate the world around them they send out a series of rapid clicks, each roughly 100 microseconds long.

[DOLPHIN SOUNDS]

BASCOMB: They also use whistles to communicate with other dolphins. Each individual has its own signature whistle, sort of a name within the pod. Mother dolphins whistle almost continuously to newborn calves to imprint their name upon them. These Bottlenose Dolphins were recorded in the Bahamas by Wild Quest.

[DOLPHIN SOUNDS]

 

Links

Wild Quest’s website