Dolphin Mothers Utilize ‘Baby Talk’ to Communicate with Their Calves

Baby talk isn’t limited to humans and our children, or even our pets. According to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, dolphin mothers also engage in a form of “baby talk” when communicating with their offspring through their unique whistles. By adjusting their tones, female bottlenose dolphins vocalize higher pitches and produce a wide range of sounds to address their calves, as reported by ScienceNews. Laela Sayigh, a co-author of the study from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, describes the similarity between dolphins and humans engaging in “parentese” as “really cool.” The dolphins are essentially saying, “I’m here, I’m here,” periodically.

The researchers discovered that these modifications to the dolphins’ whistles consistently occurred when the 19 mothers in the study were with their young, but not when they were alone or with other adults. One theory suggests that these modifications may aid in the vocal development of young dolphins, similar to how humans and certain other animals, such as gorillas, use vocalization. National Geographic explains the importance of these whistles, stating that they let baby dolphins know that their mother is directly addressing them, rather than simply announcing her presence to the group.

The observation was made after analyzing recordings from over three decades near Sarasota Bay in Florida, according to Smithsonian. Mauricio Cantor, a marine biologist from Oregon State University who was not involved in the study, describes the data as “unprecedented” and “absolutely fantastic.” Danish behavioral ecologist Frants Jensen believes it is logical for these modifications to occur among bottlenose dolphins, as they are a long-lived species with a strong reliance on acoustics. (Read more dolphins stories.)