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We're at COP28 to Save the Whale, Save the World.

We’re at COP28 to save the whale, save the world

Ed Goodall Ed is WDC's head of intergovernmental engagement. He meets with world leaders to...
Gray whales from drone.

We’re taking steps to uncover the mysteries of whales

Vicki James Vicki is WDC's protected areas coordinator, she helps to create safe ocean spaces...
We must protect our non-human allies. Image: Tom Brakefield, aurore murguet, johan63

We’re urging governments to protect all of our climate heroes – CITES

Katie Hunter Katie supports WDC's engagement in intergovernmental conversations and is working to end captivity...
The Natütama Foundation are dedicated to protecting endangered river dolphins. Image: Natutama

Guardians of the Amazon: protecting the endangered river dolphins

Ali Wood Ali is WDC's education projects coordinator. She is the editor of Splash! and KIDZONE,...
Amazon river dolphins. Image: Fernando Trujillo/Fundacion Omacha

Amazon tragedy as endangered river dolphins die in hot water

Ali Wood Ali is WDC's education projects coordinator. She is the editor of Splash! and KIDZONE,...
Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin © Mike Bossley/WDC

WDC in Japan – Part 3: Restoring freedom to dolphins in South Korea

Katrin Matthes Katrin is WDC's communications and campaigns officer for policy & communication in Germany...
Wintery scene in Iceland

Seeking sanctuary – Iceland’s complex relationship with whales

Hayley Flanagan Hayley is WDC's engagement officer, specialising in creating brilliant content for our website...
Whaling ship Hvalur 8 arrives at the whaling station with two fin whales

A summer of hope and heartbreak for whales in Icelandic waters

Luke McMillan Luke is WDC's Head of hunting and captivity. Now that the 2023 whaling season...

Dolphin brains are more complex than initially thought

Hearing and seeing are largely thought to be two seperate senses. Dolphins however also use sound to see, a technique known as echolocation (see illustration below) where an individual dolphin sends out an acoustic signal (clicks etc.) and whatever it hits, or bounces off of sends back to the dolphin where it can then “see” what it is. New evidence from the study of two dolphin brains – acquired from animals who stranded over a decade ago – shows that this process is even more complex than was originally thought. 

Dolphins like to hang out in groups

In most mammalian species there is one area in the brain associated with hearing and one with vision. in dolphins however, by using a new technique called diffusion tensor imaging (DTI),  researchers have found that the processing of sound takes place in more than just one area as the auditory nerve connects to not only the temporal lobe – the area of the brain in most mammalian species where hearing is processed – but also to another area in the brain known as the primary visual region. 

This has led the authors to hypothesise that unlike the human brain for example, dolphins hear sound in more than just one place, likely because they use it for more than just hearing. Sound is the most important sense that dolphins have and they use it for not only exploring their environment but for communication, navigation and foraging.

Lead author Gregory Berns, a neuroscientist at Emory University, is excited by the similarities they found between the brain of dolphins and bats, also known to be experts at the use of echolocation, because although bats and dolphins are completely unrelated this research shows that they may have evolved similar mechanisms for using sound not just to hear, but to also create mental images. Berns considers that for the first time, we may be on the road to beginning to “really understand how the dolphins (and other animals) mind works and how they create perceptual experiences from their environment”.

dolphin echolocation