Mama Dolphins Sing to Their Babies in the Womb

Dolphin intellect never ceases to astound our less-flippered companions – and we’re not just talking about the dolphin who stole a woman’s iPad this week.

Dolphins “sing” to their newborn calves in the womb, according to new research. Dolphins, like humans, utilize “signature whistles” to identify and communicate with one another. Mother dolphins have been spotted performing a distinctive whistle for the newborn in the months preceding and up to two weeks following delivery.

This has previously been researched, but this new study looked into the rates of these whistles and whether they altered after delivery. Audra Ames of the University of Southern Mississippi’s Marine Mammal Behavior and Cognition Lab presented some of their findings at the annual American Psychological Association meeting, according to Live Science.

“It’s been speculated that this is part of an imprinting process,” Ames said at the conference to Live Science.

“We do notice in the last trimester that human babies develop a preference for their mother’s voice.” “We don’t know if that’s happening here, but it may be something similar,” she continued.

They captured 80 hours of audio in a tank at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, California, two months before and after the birth. A pod of dolphins lived in the enclosure, including a 9-year-old female who was pregnant with a youngster later called Mira. They noticed that the mother made a novel whistle that became more intense around the delivery and then began to fade away in the months that followed. They also discovered that other dolphins in the region were quieter during this time, which they believe was a deliberate effort to avoid confusing the calf and ensure it “does not imprint on the erroneous distinctive whistle.”

Furthermore, as the mother began to slow down her repetitions, the other dolphins in the group began to speed up their own whistles. In this early stage, the mother’s whistle for the calf varied from the whistles given by other dolphins. Who knows, it could just be a parent’s pet name for their child.