Individualized Use of Signature Whistles by Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) During an Introduction

Abstract

There have been few published accounts of bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) group introductions in human care and even fewer reports of signature whistle usage within this context. Here, we describe behavior and signature whistle production before, during, and after the introduction of a recently stranded and rehabilitated young male to an existing group of two adult dolphins, a male and female. Signature whistle production increased for the adult male and female, but not for the young male being introduced. Whistles were detected from each of the dolphins on the day of introduction, which is consistent with the reports involving wild dolphin signature whistle usage before intermixing.

Keywords: cetacean; communication; vocalization.