Dolphins that work with humans to catch fish have unique accent
2 October 2017
Leo Francini/Alamy Stock Photo
By Elizabeth Preston
Bottlenose dolphins that work together with humans to catch fish have their own distinctive whistle, one that may help them recognise each other.
Off Laguna, Brazil, fishers stand in a line in waist-deep water or wait in canoes while, farther out, bottlenose dolphins chase shoals of mullet to the shore. The fishers can’t see the fish in the murky water, so they wait for the dolphins to give a signal — like an abrupt dive or tail slap — then cast their nets.
Fishers catch larger and more fish when they work with dolphins. “Dolphins likely reap similar benefits,” says Mauricio Cantor of the Federal University of Santa Catarina in Brazil – it might be easy for them to gobble up fish disoriented by the nets.
But only some dolphins, working alone or in small groups, cooperate with humans. To explore the differences between helpful and unhelpful dolphins, Cantor and his colleagues recorded the sounds made by both types while they foraged either on their own or with people.
More:
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2149139-dolphins-that-work-with-humans-to-catch-fish-have-unique-accent/?utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=ILC&utm_campaign=webpush&cmpid=ILC%257CNSNS%257C2016-GLOBAL-webpush-dolphins