Irish Dolphins MayHave a Unique Dialect

Irish scientistsmonitoring dolphins living in a river estuary in the southwest of the countrybelieve they

may have developed aunique dialect to communicate with each other.

The Shannon Dolphinand Wildlife Foundation(SDWF)has been studying a group of up to 120 bottle-

nose dolphins in theRiver Shannon using vocalizations（发声）collected on a computer in a cow shed near the

River Shannon.

As part of aresearch project,student Ronan Hickey digitized and analyzed a total of 1,882whistles from

the Irish dolphinsand those from the Welsh dolphins on a computer and separated theni into sixfundamental

whistle types and 32different categories.Of the categories,he found most were used by both sets ofdol-

phins一but eight were only heard from theIrish dolphins.

"We arebuilding up a catalogue of the different whistle types they use and trying toassociate them with

behavior likeforaging（觅食）,resting,socializing and the communications of grown.ups with calves (幼

仔）,"projectleader Simon Berrow said.“Essentially we are buildingup what is like a dictionary of words

they use or soundsthey mnake."

Berrow,a marinebiologist,said the dolphins'clicks are used to find their way around and locateprey.

The whistles arecommunications."They do a whole range 0f other sounds like barks．groans and a kind of

gunshot," hesaid. "The gunshot is an intense pulse（脉冲）of sound. Sperm whales use it to stun（击昏）

their prey.”

"When I firstheard it I was surprised as I thought sperm whales were the onlyh species whoused it. We

can speculate thedolphins are using it for the same reason as the sperm whales,"Berrowsaid.

References in locallegend indicate there have been dolphins in the Shannonestuary for generations and

they may even havebeen residents there as far back as the 6th century.

They are regularlyseen by passengers on the Shannon ferry and anestimated 25.000 tourists every year

take specialsightseeing tours on local boats to visit them.Of the 32categories,eight were produced only by the Irish dolphins.

A.Right

B.Wrong

C.Not mentioned