SCIENCE:Dolphins living off the coast of Wales whistle, bark and groan in a different dialect from dolphins off the west coast of Ireland, scientists have discovered.
Different physical environments might have contributed to the mammals developing distinctive sets of vocalisations or "dialects", says Simon Berrow of the Shannon Dolphin and Wildlife Foundation.
Dr Berrow supervised a thesis by Ronan Hickey at University of Wales, Bangor, who analysed 1,882 whistles from the dolphins in the Shannon estuary and bottlenose dolphins in Cardigan Bay in Wales. The study found 32 different sound categories, of which eight were produced only by the Shannon animals.
Dr Berrow hopes to use the data to create a dictionary of sounds and pursue the research further, should time and money allow.