Irish Dolphins may have a unique dialect Irish scientists monitoring dolphins living i
Irish Dolphins may have a unique dialect
Irish scientists monitoring dolphins living in a river estuary in the southwest of the c,ountry believe they may have developed a unique dialect to communicate with each other.
The Shannon Dolphin and Wildlife Foundation(SDWF)has been studying a group of up to 120 bottle—nose dolphins in the River Shannon using vocalisations collected on a computer in a cowshed near the River Shannon.
As part of a research project.student Ronan Hickey digitised and analysed a total of 1,882 whisties from the Irish dolphins and those from the Welsh dolphins on a computer and separated them into six fundamental whistle types and 32 different eategories.0f the categories,he found most6 were used by both sets of dolphins一but eight were only heard from the Irish dolphins.
“We are building up a catalogue 0f the different whistle types they use and trying to associate them with behaviour like foraging,resting,socialising and the communications of groups with calves”project leader Simon Below said.“Essentially we are building up what is like a dictionary 0f words they use 0r sounds they make.”
Below,a nlan’ne biologist,said the dolphins’clicks are used t0 find their way around and locate prey.The whistles are communications.“They d0 a whole range 0f other sounds like barks,groans and a kind 0f gunshot.”he said.“The gunshot is an intense pulse of sound.Sperm whales use it t0 stun their prey.”
“When I first heard it 1 was surprised as I thought sperm whales were the only species who used it.We can speculate the dolphins are usin’g it for the same reason as the sperm whales,”Berrow said.
References in local legend indicate there have been dolphins in the Shannon estuary for generatl’ons and they may even have been resident there as far back as the 6th century9.
They are regularly seen by passengers 0n the Shannon ferry and an estimated 25,000 tourists every year take special sightseeing tours on local boats t0 visit them.
第 16 题 The difference in eating habits between the bottle-nose dolphins and the sperm whales interested the SDWF scientists.
A.Right
B.Wrong
C.Not mentioned