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Dolphin Moms Use Baby Talk To Call To Their young, Recordings Show

Dolphin mothers use a kind of high-pitched baby talk.

  • A study published Monday found that female bottlenose dolphins change their tone when addressing their calves. Researchers recorded the signature whistles of 19 mother dolphins in Florida, when accompanied by their young offspring and when swimming alone or with other adults.
  • The dolphin signature whistle is a unique and important signal — akin to calling out their own name.
  • “They use these whistles to keep track of each other. They’re periodically saying, ‘I’m here, I’m here’,” said study co-author Laela Sayigh, a Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution marine biologist in Massachusetts.
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