Whistle rate and introductions of familiar and unfamiliar bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus)

Group living among animals provides a variety of fitness benefits across a wide range of taxa, including marine mammals. Maintaining and coordinating group living in a three-dimensional environment requires the ability to identify and locate individuals via vocal communication, such as a contact call. For free-ranging Atlantic bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), signature whistles are utilized in this context, and have also been recorded during interactions between distinct social groups at sea (Quick & Janik 2012). In addition to signature whistles, the rate of whistle production was significantly higher during new group interactions when compared to all other social contexts studied (Quick & Janik 2012). The purpose of this study was to compare whistle rate during introductions of familiar dolphins and unfamiliar dolphins in a managed care setting