By: Kyle Zhu

baby. That can instantly get the baby’s attention and let them know we are talking to them. But how does dolphin, a highly acoustic species, communicate with their children?

In the last more than three decades, a group of scientists keep following a wild dolphin mom in Florida’s Sarasota Bay. They equipped special microphones multiple times to record the voice on multiple occasions. During the years, scientists got different samples, including the recording when they had calves (especially when dolphin calves stay with their mothers for average of three years), and years when they didn’t.

“This is unprecedented, absolutely fantastic data,” said Mauricio Cantor, an Oregon State University marine biologist who was not involved in the study. “This study is the result of so much research effort.”

And the study demonstrate that when dolphin swimming alone or with other adults, they employ distinctive dolphin signature whistles, which is a unique and important signal.They use these whistles to keep track of each other. They’re periodically saying, ‘I’m here, I’m here’,”as elucidated by Laela Sayigh, one of the study’s co-authors.

However, when the adults dolphin accompanied by their child, the dolphin mothers employ a form of communication akin to “baby talk”.They use a kind of high-pitched ways, to calling their young offspring. The mother’s whistle pitch is higher and her pitch range is greater than usual, according to the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

the exact reason behind the use of baby talk by people, dolphin, or other creatures. One plausible explanation is that assist offspring understood as a way to help learn to pronounce novel sound as it seems to do with humans. Furthermore, the adoption of a distinct communication style may serve to capture the attention of the offspring.

Janet Mann, a marine biologist at Georgetown University who has not involved in study, says“It’s really important for a calf to know ‘Oh, Mom is talking to me now’ versus just announcing her presence to someone else.”