It is known that in spite that dolphins lack of vocal cords, they can emit different sounds or vocalizations thanks to their nasal air sacs.
They employ these different vocalizations to communicate with those of the same species, even to orientate themselves by means of the echolocation.
This interesting concept of echolocation, consists in emitting sound waves, which return to the dolphin, after hitting against any object or animal.
It is known, that other creatures such as whales and bats, also employ this interesting skill.
Dolphins are characterized by living in herds throughout their whole lives, and therefore it is essential that they maintain some type of communication, that helps them interact when they need it.
For this reason they have developed these complex sounds and vocalizations.
Dolphins have many amazing features. If you want to know more about them we recommend this article (dolphins: characteristics, types, feeding, habitat, and more.)
Vocalizations And Their Meaning
There are several doubts whether dolphins have a language or not, which is still a matter of debate. . However, it can´t be denied that most evidences suggest, that it is quite possible that vocalizations are related to a sort of comunication system.
Studies have been carried out with dolphins of the same species, belonging to different herds and they were not interrelated.
According to the specialists, this indicates that each group develops a different language that perhaps is not understood by others.
As a result , other investigations were developed, which resulted in the conclusion, that dolphins do employ a sort of language, based on sounds and vocalizations to identify any danger, and to search for food.
These sounds are usually a bit complex, and each group of dolphins uses a unique sound. Learn more about the most common dolphin species in the world: bottlenose dolphin
It is good idea to learn more about echolocation
Uses of sounds and vocalizations
Dolphins have developed a complex system of sounds, which besides of representing a great tool to communicate with the members of their group, are quite useful in different aspects of their lives.
It should be noted that each dolphin produces a single sound, in relation to the others.
These sounds are quite useful, to orientate themselves when they are swimming. This is because the dolphins have a quite developed sense of hearing, and by producing vocalizations they can know what is in their way, since the frequency of these vocalizations are altered when they collide with an object or animal, and the dolphins have the ability to identify such alterations
Moreover, these animals also use these vocalizations to hunt their food, since a curious fact about the dolphins, is that some of them use the sounds to produce acoustic shocks, in order to kill the smaller prey.
The echolocation skills of dolphins; are far superior to those of any human device. For this reason, the US Navy has been studying them for several years in order to improve its own radars
Dolphins are very good at applying their echolocation capability even in very noisy underwater environments.
In fact they are very good at locating networks that entangle and kill many of them, leading to the question of why they are often trapped in them.
It has also been demonstrated, that some noisy places confuse the dolphins, perhaps explaining why they often appear in areas where Navy ships are performing maneuvers.
In addition to the above; dolphins also employ dances to communicate among them. At the moment of reproducing, the male dolphin attracts the female thanks to the vocalizations and dances that he manages to perform.
It is also known that dolphins apply teamwork strategies, when they are hunting fish schools.
Finally it should be noted, that for dolphins communication is important throughout their lives, since it helps them to interact in a better way with their equals.
Now, let´s enjoy this dolphin therapy….. Is there any doubt about the wonders of nature? We guess not!