Experts witnessed for the first time a communication between different species: a lone dolphin and a family of porpoises interact with each other in a special language that has been recorded by the researchers. This is a surprising event for science
In the Scottish cove of Firth of Clyde, a lone dolphin named Kylie befriended a group of porpoises, interacting with these other marine beings in a language of their own which was first recorded by a University of Strathclyde researcher, Mel Cosentino, who with the help of other scientists and volunteers studied the acoustic interaction between two different species On the spell of the unequal
In the study published in the journal Bioacoustics, the researchers analyzed a series of recordings made between June 2016 and September 2017 and observed how the dolphin related to porpoises, adapting its communicative behavior to that of these oceanic cetaceans and preferring sounds and verses that they belong more to the latter species than to a dolphin.
The dolphins are in fact used to communicate through whistles, while the porpoises by means of clicks. The researchers classified the clicks recorded by both species based on waveform, spectrum power, spectrogram, as well as direction of arrival and interval between clicks.
The underwater microphones placed by the researchers along the Scottish coast harbor demonstrated not only the almost total absence of whistling, but a large number of clicks produced by Kylie to be able to communicate with her new friends, more like theirs than hers. .
The vocal learning ability has been observed mainly in captive specimens and there are few cases involving wild cetaceans. This would be the first time that a common dolphin, in captivity or in the wild, demonstrates that it can communicate, having learned to produce sounds, imitating another species "
said Mel Cosentino.
Experts speculate that the animal now considers itself more of a porpoise than a dolphin, feeling part of the group. In fact, Kylie was a dolphin who wandered alone in Scottish waters and who found a new family in the porpoises. And the "language" that Kylie has learned seems to confirm this thesis, whatever they may have said.
Fonte: Bioacoustics
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