Dolphin utters 'word' for first time

Computer software has decoded the first recorded word to ever be spoken by a dolphin.

Dolphin expert Dr Denise Herzing made the find while in the Caribbean late last year.

The dolphin pod she had been tracking for 25 years were playing around her boat when suddenly she heard one of them say, "sargassum" - a type of seaweed.

Well, rather whistle it.

During her time with the pod, Dr Herzing invented a whistling sound for sargussum which is distinctly different from the whistling sound dolphins make themselves.

Dr Herzing and her team had hoped the pod would learn and adopt the new language.

They were not disappointed.

The find was confirmed by the Cetacean Hearing and Telemetry (Chat), a prototype translator that interprets dolphin whistles.

"I was like whoa! We have a match. I was stunned," Dr Herzing told New Scientist.

It is not known whether the dolphin said the word because it saw some of the seaweed and was trying to communicate with another a dolphin.

So far the sargassum whistle has been heard just once.

Source: New Scientist

Author: Natasha Lee, Approving editor: Nick Pearson