Speaking in tongues: Dolphin dialects

DOES Fungi, the famous Dingle dolphin, speak with a Kerry accent?

This may be the so-called silly season in the media when stories that would never see daylight at other times of the year get highlighted. However, research carried out on the bottlenose dolphins of the Shannon Estuary suggests they have their own specific whistle types that could be considered a “local dialect”.

Dolphins produce a variety of sounds such as whistles, clicks, groans and barks to communicate and to orientate themselves.

Ronan Hickey, an MSc student at Bangor University, digitised and analysed almost 2,000 whistles from dolphins in the Shannon and Cardigan Bay in Wales. The results showed unique whistle shapes used only by the Shannon dolphins, compared with those from Cardigan Bay or elsewhere.

In Canada, researchers have discovered that in resident pods of killer whales, each whale has the same set of calls, or dialect, as other pod members. The only other mammals known to have true dialects are humans, sperm whales and some species of monkey.

Dr Simon Berrow, from Shannon Dolphin and Wildlife Foundation, said: “We are continuing the work. We are mainly collecting vocalisations from Ireland of common and bottlenose dolphins.’

Just as people use words to communicate, dolphins have echolocation — a variety of sounds used in dolphin communication.

Echolocation is not only used to communicate with other dolphins but it is also used to locate prey, other dolphins, and predators.

When a dolphin is producing a sound, it bounces off objects and creatures then it bounces back in the dolphin’s direction. The dolphin’s brain then analyses the information which creates a reaction in the dolphin and it reacts accordingly to the information.

Again this rain-sodden summer, Fungi was seen by thousands of visitors to Dingle. It is now reckoned that upwards of 200,000 people visit Dingle to see Fungi, who has been there for 23 years, with up to a dozen local ferries taking them out of the harbour to see the dolphin at close quarters.

There are more than 30 species of dolphin worldwide and several species are under threat for a number of reasons, all related to human activity.

Since both tuna and dolphins follow the same routes, dolphins get caught in the fishermen’s nets which are meant to catch tuna. In this case, they get fatally hurt or they drown as a result of it.

Pollution is also a key issue. Pollution in rivers, seas and oceans affects dolphins. Also, since the dolphin is at the top of the food chain, the chemicals that pollute its habitat create the highest level of concentration of these pollutants in its body. As a result, diseases, difficulty in breeding and death all take their toll.

Among the endangered dolphins species are: the Indus River dolphin and the baiji, also known as the Yangtze River dolphin. Indeed, some experts believe the long-beaked baiji, a fresh water dolphin, to be extinct because of overfishing.The Ganges River dolphin and the Amazon River dolphin are currently considered vulnerable.

A most interesting area of research is how dolphins have a therapeutic effect on people with special needs. You’ll hear many stories in Dingle, for example, of how people suffering from depression and other illnesses saw improvements after connecting with Fungi.

Current research centres are examining the effects of allowing people with special needs to exercise while developing a relationship with a dolphin. This type of therapy is supervised by an occupational therapist.

They involve the dolphin in patient exercise. For example, the patient holds onto the dorsal fin and is pulled along thereby allowing them to practice swimming and also working on their grip. The patient can also play ball with the dolphin and perform a variety of other activities to develop their motor skills.

This type of therapy develops a friendly and interactive relationship between dolphin and patient. The dolphin-assisted therapy research has proven to be beneficial to several individuals with special needs, according to experts.

It can be used for people with autism and those who have difficulty in communicating normally: dolphins are not only receptive but also very intelligent. They can read body language easily and sense emotions such as fear and joy.