Snorts, clicks, groans – tune in to the long-distance language of the ocean

The vast oceans of the world are dark, deep and mysterious places where eyesight counts for little as soon as you venture very far beneath the surface.

For humans, who live in a world dominated by visual stimuli, to exist in such conditions would be impossible. But for whales and dolphins that live in the ocean or, in the case of a few species, muddy rivers and estuaries, the darkness is unimportant. What is crucial to them is sound.

Sound is an efficient way to transmit and sense information, especially as it travels five times faster through water than through air. If humans shout to someone. It is unlikely that they will be heard a kilometer away. But if a whale ‘shouts’ in an ocean channel, another whale may hear it tens, if not hundreds, of kilometres away.

The undersea world of sound

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For many years people believed that the cleverest animals after man were chimpanzees. Now, however, there is proof that dolphins may be even clever than these big apes.
Although a dolphin lives in the sea it is not a fish. It is a mammal. It is in many ways, therefore, like a human being.

Dolphins have a simple language. They are able to talk to one another. It may be possible for man to learn how to talk to dolphins. But this will not be easy because dolphins can not hear the kind of sounds man can make. If man wants to talk to dolphins, therefore, he will have to make a third language which both he and the dolphins can understand.
Dolphins are also very friendly towards man. They often follow ships. There are many stories of dolphins guiding ships through difficult and dangerous waters.

The dolphin

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