Scientists identify the language of dolphins
By Gary Cleland

Dolphins have their own language, according to a scientist who has identified almost 200 different sounds they make.

The whistles they make can be linked to specific types of behaviour, making it possible to form some idea of what they might be saying, it is claimed.


Dolphins which are hand-fed were found to make more noise than dolphins feeding in the wild


Liz Hawkins, of the Whale Research Centre in Australia, spent three years listening to bottlenose dolphins living off the west coast of the country and recorded a total of 1,647 whistles from 51 different pods of dolphins.


Source: telegraph.co.uk

Amazing .. i read they do therapy with mentally disabled kids in those huge pools .. this language should make them progress a lot ! Great !

It would be awesome if a translater could be devised. When the dolphin communicates maybe it could be translated into human terms. I wonder if there might be dolphinian language that would be difficult to be translated into human terms.

That would be grand !

I dont know maby the dolphins dont have nice stuff to say to us ever thought of that

this is moonies and goochers stuff
i can just imagine some dolphin scientist headline "HUMANS THOUGHT TO BE CAPABLE OF COMMUNICATION"

It'd be cool if they could work out the dolphins language

Imagine one day we will be able to actually communicate with dolphins. That would be amazing.
But as smart as they are, they can't have anything good to say about us. With us capturing them and making them do tricks for treats.
All those squeaks and clicks are them laughing at the fact that we think we are the most intelligent beings on this planet.
I wonder what it would be like to be able to understand dolphins???
Maybe a little like......... THIS

I am nearly totally ignorant about the lives of dolphins -- and I know this is way out there, but when you ask about translating the dolphin communications into human terms I wondered: Do you think it is possible another species would be able to hand down through its language legends of great migrations, golden times on the planet, great dolphin heros and explations of where they came from, etc? That they give "names" to each other, and to other species, etc., that they possibly could be self-aware and communicate this awareness? I don't know where this came from, forgive me. I'm sure the working assumption is that of course not, and that any "language" they'd have wouldn't be used in anything but the most rudimentary ways as far as we understand. But hey, if the thought is going to occur to me it seems this is the forum to ask it? Animals are so fascinating, period, and communicate with each other in ways we don't begin to understand, period.

That would be awesome. The great Hero Dolphononis lived once as the great leader of our pods during the golden ages of the seas.

That would be awesome to hear a dolphin say through a translator.

I know, I know! Surely we could use some new great mythologies as told to us by another species! (And as an aside, how could any other species ever tell by just studying us humans that we're self-aware and have our own mythologies retold through generations and not just operating on instinct, building our little homes, living as pack animals, communicating in very rudimentary ways?)

well some scientist well invent a device that can speak to dolphins... call Scoobydoo we are about to get an ice cave man.