A new study has revealed that dolphins form highly complex and dynamic networks of friends.
Scientists at Harbour Branch Oceanographic Institute at Florida Atlantic University took a closer look at the interactions between bottlenose dolphins in the Indian River Lagoon (IRL) and discovered how they mingle and with whom they spend their time.
The team found that individual dolphins exhibited both preference and avoidance behaviour, so just like humans, they have dolphins they like and associate with and ones they avoid. The study also found that IRL dolphins clustered into groups of associated animals, or “communities” that tended to occupy discrete core areas along the north-south axis of the lagoon system. Researcher Elizabeth Murdoch Titcomb said that one of the more unique aspects of the study was the discovery that the physical dimensions of the habitat, the long, narrow lagoon system itself, influenced the spatial and temporal dynamics of dolphin association patterns.
Titcomb explained that communities that occupy the narrowest stretches of the Indian River Lagoon have the most compact social networks, similar to humans who live in small towns and have fewer people with whom to interact.
