Dolphins at Sea Greet Each Other   Discovery - February 29, 2012
When groups of dolphins meet up in the open sea they thoughtfully introduce themselves. Bottlenose dolphins swap signature whistles with each other when they meet in the open sea, a new study reports, suggesting that these marine mammals engage in something akin to a human conversation. Earlier research found that signature whistles are unique for each dolphin, with the marine mammals essentially naming themselves and communicating other basic information.

Dolphin whistles are unfit for porpoise   PhysOrg - February 29, 2012
Bottlenose dolphins have whistles which they use to exclusively greet other members of their species, marine biologists in Scotland reported. Using hydrophones, the researchers made recordings of dolphins swimming in St. Andrews Bay, off the northeastern coast of Scotland, in the summers of 2003 and 2004. When groups of dolphins met up, they swapped whistles that outwardly sounded the same.

  How Far Will Dolphins Go to Relate to Humans?   New York Times - September 20, 2011
In a remote patch of turquoise sea, Denise L. Herzing splashes into the water with a pod of 15 Atlantic spotted dolphins. For the next 45 minutes, she engages the curious creatures in a game of keep-away, using a piece of Sargassum seaweed like a dog's chew toy. Based in Jupiter, Fla., she has tracked three generations of dolphins in this area. She knows every animal by name, along with individual personalities and life histories. She has captured much of their lives on video, which she is using to build a growing database.

New Dolphin Species Discovered in Big City Harbor   National Geographic - September 16, 2011
Identified by DNA tests, the new mammals were right under researchers' noses. An entirely new species of dolphin has been discovered in Australia, and not in some isolated lagoon but in the shadows of skyscrapers, scientists say. One of only three new dolphin species found since the 1800s, the Burrunan dolphin - naed after an Aboriginal phrase that means "large sea fish of the porpoise kind" - is known from only two populations so far, both in the state of Victoria. About a hundred Burrunan dolphins have been found in Port Phillip Bay near Melbourne, Australia's second most populous city. Another 50 are known to frequent the saltwater coastal lakes of the Gippsland region, a couple hundred miles or so away.

Scientists find out that dolphins 'talk' like humans   MSNBC - September 7, 2011
Dolphins do not whistle, but instead "talk" to each other using a process very similar to the way that humans communicate, according to a new study. While many dolphin calls sound like whistles, the study found the sounds are produced by tissue vibrations analogous to the operation of vocal folds by humans and many other land-based animals.

Dolphin Studies Could Reveal Secrets of Extraterrestrial Intelligence   Live Science - September 6, 2011
How do we define intelligence? SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, clearly equates intelligence with technology (or, more precisely, the building of radio or laser beacons). Some, such as the science fiction writer Isaac Asimov, suggested that intelligence wasn't just the acquisition of technology, but the ability to develop and improve it, integrating it into our society. By that definition, a dolphin, lacking limbs to create and manipulate complex tools, cannot possibly be described as intelligent. It's easy to see why such definitions prove popular; we are clearly the smartest creatures on the planet, and the only species with technology. It may be human hubris, or some kind of anthropocentric bias that we find difficult to escape from, but our adherence to this definition narrows the phase space in which we're willing to search for intelligent life.

Dolphin hunts with electric sense   BBC - July 27, 2011
A South American dolphin is the first "true mammal" to sense prey by their electric fields, scientists suggest. The researchers first showed that structures on the animal's head were probably sensory organs, then found it could detect electric fields in water.

Dolphins' 'Sixth Sense' Helps Them Feel Electric Fields   Live Science - July 27, 2011
The common Guiana dolphin has just divulged its sixth sense: the ability to sense electric fields. It is the first placental mammal known to pull off this trick, new research finds. The dolphin, which bears live young like other placental mammals, most likely uses its sixth sense to find prey in the murky coastal waters it inhabits.

Miraculous! Dolphin Healing Powers May Help Humans   Live Science - July 21, 2011
You have an animal that has evolved in the ocean without hands or legs, which swims faster than we can, has intelligence that perhaps equals our social and emotional complexity, and its healing is almost alien compared to what we are capable of. Several remarkable abilities work together for the seemingly miraculous healing in dolphins. First, even with a large gaping wound in their side, dolphins don't bleed to death.

Successful mothers get help from their friends: Dolphin study   PhysOrg - November 2, 2010

Female dolphins who have help from their female friends are far more successful as mothers than those without such help, according to a landmark new study.

'Balloon head' dolphin discovered   BBC - November 2, 2010

A new type of dolphin with a short, spoon-shaped nose and high, bulbous forehead has been identified from a fossil found in the North Sea. The Platalearostrum hoekmani was named after Albert Hoekman, the Dutch fisherman who in 2008 trawled up a bone from the creature's skull.

  Dolphin "Talk" Made Visible?   National Geographic - April 9, 2009

   Why Do Dolphins Rub Flippers? National Geographic - November 10, 2008

   Baby Dolphins Don't Sleep Live Science - December 17, 2007

Dolphin With Four Fins May Prove Terrestrial Origins   National Geographic - November 6, 2006

Japanese fishers have found an unusual bottlenose dolphin with an extra set of fins that could be an evolutionary throwback to the time when the marine mammals' ancient ancestors walked on land.

Dolphins Name Themselves With Whistles, Study Says National Geographic - May 8, 2006

Dolphins give themselves "names" - distinctive whistles that they use to identify each other, new research shows. Scientists say it's the first time wild animals have been shown to call out their own names.

Newborn dolphins go a month without sleep   New Scientist - June 29, 2005
Newborn dolphins and killer whales do not sleep for a whole month after birth, new research has revealed, and neither do their mothers, who stay awake to keep a close eye on their offspring. The feat of wakefulness is remarkable given that rats die if forcibly denied sleep. And in humans, as any new parent will tell you, sleep deprivation is an exquisite form of torture.

Dolphins combat child deafness   BBC - August 3, 2000

From Yevpatoriya in the Crimea, the BBC's Steven Rosenberg reports on an innovative treatment for deafness in children - one involving dolphins It is showtime at Yevpatoriya's dolphinarium