How do dolphins in the Black Sea communicate?

How do dolphins in the Black Sea communicate - this question is being answered by a major international project in which the Laboratory of Underwater Acoustics at the Technical University of Varna is playing a leading role. It provides recordings of dolphin "conversations" in the sea and the basis for comparing the sounds with which the inhabitants of the Dolphinarium in the city communicate.

There has long been no doubt that dolphins talk to each other. A major international science project now wants to find out exactly what they are saying to each other. The Underwater Acoustics Laboratory at the Technical University of Varna - a world leader in computational bioacoustics - is involved. Prof. Todor Ganchev is one of the participants in the project to make the connection between signals and behaviour in dolphins, observations in Varna Bay have already begun.

"The recordings show that there is a large amount of dolphins in Varna. Much more than 10 years ago. On the one hand, the population is growing because of the regulations that have been imposed by the EU. Apparently, the environment is favourable. Perhaps, the military action in the northern Black Sea is pushing the dolphins out. So in our case, the situation is improving somewhat, there are a lot of dolphins, which is an indication that all is well with the sea," explains Prof. Todor Ganchev, deputy rector of TU-Varna.

The project is a small part of a larger effort to improve people's quality of life.

"Dolphins are at the top of the food chain in the Black Sea. When there is an abundance, it is an indicator that the resources in the Black Sea are sufficient, that the water is not so dirty, that things are within some limits that are acceptable for dolphins. They are an indicator that there are conditions for tourism to develop because they are attractive," says Prof. Todor Ganchev.

The project leader is the “Nova Gorica” University in Slovenia, and their linguists will analyse the dolphins' signals, with the ultimate goal of all involved being that humans and dolphins will be able to talk to each other after a while.