AT FIRST LISTEN, it sounds like squeaking balloons – but it’s really just two dolphins having a natter.
The duo were captured larking about in Derrynane, Co Kerry, and we get to have a sneaky listen to their chat thanks to an underwater microphone.
Vincent Hyland, who runs marine biology workshops and is involved with environmental education, explained that it wasn’t just dolphins that we can hear on the recording:
There are three audible sounds. The “cracking” sounds are snapping shrimps, which use their front claw to force an air bubble outward, which then implodes from the pressure of the surrounding water. This produces a sound which can stun prey including crabs. The other two sounds include dolphin vocalisation, recorded as they played at the surface.
Who knew shrimps were so dastardly?
And as for those clicking noises:
Towards the end of the piece you can hear the dolphins clicking. They use sonar to detect and locate prey.
(wildderrynane/Youtube)
Derrynane is certainly the place to go to if you’d like to bump into fascinating wild animals. Here are some scary-looking basking sharks having a swim in the sea in March:
(wildderrynane/Youtube)
Dolphins are fascinating mammals, and display traits similar to human emotions. New tear-jearking video footage from China shows ‘dolphin mourning’, where a mother was spotted carrying her dead calf in the ocean off Qinzhou City. Sniff.
(NTD/Youtube)
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