Scientists have recorded two dolphins having a conversation with each other for the first time.

Two adult Black Sea bottlenose dolphins called Yasha and Yana were observed by Ukrainian researchers who found the mammals produced a series of pulses and whistles to form distinct "words".

An underwater recording system enabled them to record the acoustic signals produced by the dolphins which received no special training or any food rewards during the study.

Analysis showed the dolphins took turns in communicating with one another.

Researchers found they "listened" to each other's signals - without interrupting each other - before responding.


"Essentially, this exchange resembles a conversation between two people," said lead researcher Dr Vyacheslav Ryabov.

"As this language exhibits all the design features present in the human spoken language, this indicates a high level of intelligence and consciousness in dolphins, and their language can be ostensibly considered a highly developed spoken language, akin to the human language.

"This claim is supported by the fact that dolphins have possessed brains that are somewhat larger and more complex than human ones for more than 25 million years," he added.

The new research was published in the journal Mathematics and Physics.