A DOLPHIN has been talking to himself and crying into the void for years as he swims in the Baltic Sea alone, a heartbreaking study has found.
The bottlenose dolphin called Delle explores the Baltic Sea alone despite his species being incredibly social.
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They often interact with each other by whistling and commonly travel and hunt in pods usually made up of between 10 and 30 members.
However, superpods have been recorded of over 1,000 bottlenose dolphins.
In 2019, Delle arrived in Denmark’s Svendborgsund Channel, a location that is not typical for his species.
Despite no other dolphins being in the area, he was still there years later when researchers launched a study between December 2022 and February 2023.
To learn more about the lonely dolphin and to see how his presence in the area was impacting other animals, scientists used underwater recording technology to capture his sounds.
Over 10,800 bursts of clicks, whistles, and other sounds were picked up during the 69-day study.
Though he had a lot to say, his unanswered calls lacked “intentionality” as Delle is entirely alone, the results published last month revealed.
Even more heartbreaking is that researchers initially thought there were multiple dolphins as he spoke to himself using a variety of noises, almost mimicking other friends.
Three distinctly different whistles were recorded.
This is unusual as bottlenose dolphins have “signature whistles, believed to be unique to each individual, much like a name,” Olga Filatova, the lead author of the study told Live Science.
Researchers noted: “If the dolphin’s solitary status was unknown, one might conclude that the recordings captured a group of three different dolphins.
“It is highly unusual that the dolphin produced these sounds without any conspecifics present.”
No reason was found that explained Delle’s loneliness.
Scientists believe his “self-talk” likely comes from his need for social interaction.
Bottlenose Dolphin Facts
Bottlenose Dolphins can be found in most oceans across the world, typically in tropical and temperate climates.
Usually grey, these mammals are between two and four metres long and have a distinctive beak that makes it look like they are smiling.
They are incredibly social and live in pods that can have hundreds of members.
This species of dolphin eats fish, squid, small rays and crustaceans.
The females are pregnant for about 12 months and they then typically nurse a calf for up to 24 months.
Bottlenose dolphins have an average lifespan of 22.8 years.
An initial theory was that Delle was trying to communicate with humans such as a local paddleboarder.
However, this idea fell through when he was recorded making the same noises at night and other times when no humans were around.
Due to the length of time he has spent alone in the region, it is also unlikely that he is still trying to find other dolphins.
Filatova believes the sounds could be involuntary and triggered by emotion, like when humans laugh even if they are alone.
The researchers wrote: “Dolphin ‘communicative’ sounds may be produced unintentionally as emotional signals or serve functions other than communication.”
It is not known how long the 17-year-old dolphin has been alone and if his solitary lifestyle predates his arrival off the Danish coast.
