Researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and partner institutions, including the Brookfield Zoo Chicago’s Sarasota Dolphin Research Program (SDRP), have been named the winners of the inaugural Coller Dolittle Challenge for their groundbreaking work in identifying possible language-like communication in dolphins.

The Jeremy Coller Foundation and Tel Aviv University awarded the $100,000 prize during a virtual event where four shortlisted teams from the USA, Germany, France, and Israel presented their remarkable discoveries in communication with various animals, including monkeys, nightingales, and cuttlefish. All finalists utilized advanced technology and innovative approaches to decode, interact with, and replicate non-human organism communication.

Biologist Laela Sayigh led the WHOI team, which included Peter Tyack. Vincent Janik from the University of St. Andrews, Frants Jensen from Aarhus University, Katie McHugh, and Randall Wells from the Brookfield Zoo Chicago’s SDRP also collaborated on the research. Their study focused on non-signature whistles, a type of vocalization that comprises around 50% of whistles produced by dolphins in Sarasota, Florida. These non-signature whistles differ from the more commonly studied signature whistles, which are akin to name-like vocalizations.

The winning study identified distinct types of non-signature whistles used by multiple dolphins for communication purposes. Through playback experiments conducted under natural conditions in the wild, the team observed avoidance responses triggered by one non-signature whistle, suggesting an alarm function. Another non-signature whistle was found to correlate with a query function, produced in response to unexpected or unfamiliar situations.

Sayigh’s team utilized non-invasive suction-cup hydrophones and digital acoustic tags to record known individual dolphins during catch-and-release health assessments, providing valuable insights into dolphin communication patterns.