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\n Study Snapshot: Researchers from Florida Atlantic University\u2019s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute have been \u201csnooping\u201d on dolphins \u2013 and what they heard offers new clues about where the animals socialize and hunt. Using an autonomous wave glider equipped with an underwater acoustic recorder, the team spent two months listening along Florida\u2019s Atlantic coast. Published in PeerJ, the study found distinct patterns in dolphin whistles, which are associated with social behavior, and echolocation clicks, which help dolphins navigate and find prey.<\/p>\n
Whistles were concentrated in nearshore areas, suggesting hotspots for social activity, while echolocation was more prevalent where sound-producing fish were abundant. The overlap raises an intriguing possibility: Dolphins may be listening for their prey \u2013 and their prey may be listening for them. These acoustic clues could ultimately help researchers identify and better protect critical dolphin habitat, particularly in coastal waters increasingly affected by human activity.<\/p>\n
For dolphins, the ocean is a world of sound. Their whistles carry social information, helping them communicate and stay connected, while echolocation \u2013 rapid-fire clicks \u2013 function like underwater sonar, helping them navigate their surroundings and detect potential prey.<\/p>\n
But dolphins aren\u2019t the only noise makers. Fish make sounds in the underwater soundscape and so do vessel traffic and other human activities. For dolphins and their prey, the sounds they make may be just as important as the sounds they hear.<\/p>\n
By eavesdropping on these cetaceans, researchers from Florida Atlantic University<\/a>\u2019s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute<\/a> have uncovered new clues about how dolphins navigate and use their underwater world \u2013\u00a0including evidence suggesting that dolphins themselves may be eavesdropping on their prey and that their prey may be eavesdropping on them.<\/p>\n Using an autonomous wave glider equipped with an acoustic recorder, the team spent two months listening across the East Florida Shelf, capturing a rare glimpse into the acoustic lives of dolphins along Florida\u2019s Atlantic coast. Published in the journal PeerJ<\/a>, the findings reveal distinct patterns in dolphin whistles and echolocation, suggesting dolphins may favor different habitats for socializing and hunting.<\/p>\n Over two months, the wave glider captured nearly 62 hours of underwater sound, with dolphins detected in more than 1,600 recordings. Researchers then compared dolphin whistles and echolocation with environmental conditions, including depth, temperature, salinity, currents, productivity and human-generated noise, revealing not just where dolphins were detected, but what may have shaped their behavior.<\/p>\n Findings reveal that whistle activity, which is primarily associated with social behavior, was more frequently detected in nearshore waters and was influenced by factors including location, water temperature, sound levels and chlorophyll-a concentration. Two prominent areas of predicted whistle activity emerged near St. Augustine and Ponce Inlet, with additional areas near Melbourne Beach and north of Ponce Inlet, suggesting that portions of the nearshore environment may be particularly important for dolphin social activity.<\/p>\n Echolocation told a different story \u2013 and offered perhaps the most intriguing clue of all. The rapid-fire clicks were concentrated from Melbourne to Ponce Inlet and offshore toward Long John Reef, where sound-producing fish were also abundant. The overlap suggests dolphins may be using acoustic clues from their prey as they hunt, giving researchers a way to pinpoint potential feeding grounds without ever seeing a dolphin or its prey.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we\u2019re seeing is a fascinating separation between the acoustic behaviors dolphins use for social life and those they use for finding food,\u201d said Greg O\u2019Corry-Crowe<\/a>, Ph.D., co-author, a research professor at FAU Harbor Branch and a National Geographic Explorer. \u201cThe fact that echolocation was associated with sound-producing fish, while whistles were linked to a different set of environmental conditions, suggests dolphins may be responding to their surroundings in very different ways depending on what they are doing. In essence, the same ocean can become a different habitat to a dolphin depending on whether it is looking for a meal or communicating with other dolphins.\u201d<\/p>\n Researchers also found mismatches between fish and dolphin activity, suggesting that fish may quiet down when they detect dolphins.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody is snooping on everybody else,\u201d said O\u2019Corry-Crowe. \u201cThis raises a fascinating question for our future research: Are dolphins listening for fish, and are fish listening for dolphins?\u201d<\/p>\n The timing of dolphin detections also shifted, with more activity in March than April, possibly reflecting seasonal movements of different dolphin populations along Florida\u2019s Atlantic coast.<\/p>\n The study also highlights a challenge for dolphins and researchers: vessel noise can mask their calls, making communication harder for dolphins and detection harder for scientists. Some high-whistle areas also experience heavy vessel traffic, suggesting that important dolphin habitat may overlap with noisy waters.<\/p>\n \u201cBy listening to the sounds dolphins produce, we can begin to understand what they may be doing in different areas of the ocean and identify places that may be especially important for social activity or feeding,\u201d said Jessica Carvalho, first author and a research scientist at FAU Harbor Branch. \u201cThat information can ultimately help us better protect critical dolphin habitat, particularly in coastal waters increasingly affected by human activity.\u201d<\/p>\n At the heart of the study was a wave glider, an autonomous, wave-powered vehicle that served as a continuously operating underwater listening station. It allowed researchers to monitor a broad area over an extended period without the limitations of boat-based surveys.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ocean is filled with sounds that humans rarely hear, and autonomous platforms give us a way to enter that hidden acoustic world,\u201d said Laurent Ch\u00e9rubin<\/a>, Ph.D., senior author and a research professor at FAU Harbor Branch. \u201cA wave glider can travel through the ocean and listen continuously, allowing us to detect patterns that would be almost impossible to capture with occasional boat surveys. It is like giving researchers an ear that can remain in the ocean for weeks at a time, revealing a world of animal behavior that is otherwise largely unknown to us.\u201d<\/p>\n The study highlights the power of sound to reveal how dolphins use their environment. By identifying areas of concentrated social and foraging activity, acoustic monitoring could help pinpoint important dolphin habitats and guide efforts to protect them.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery sound gives us another piece of the puzzle,\u201d O\u2019Corry-Crowe said. \u201cWhen we combine dolphin vocalizations with the sounds of their prey and the physical characteristics of the ocean, we begin to see the underwater environment from the dolphins\u2019 perspective. That can fundamentally change how we think about their habitat.\u201d<\/p>\n This work was support by the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute Foundation Specialty License Plate \u201cProtect Wild Dolphins\u201d and \u201cProtect Florida Whales.\u201d<\/p>\n