共用题干 Irish Dolphins May Have a Unique DialectIrish scientists monitoring dolphins living in a river estuary in the southwest of the country believe they may have developed a unique dialect to communicate with each other.The Shannon Dolphin and Wildlife Foundation(SDW F)has been studying a group of up to 120 bottle- nose dolphins in the River Shannon using vocalizations(发声)collected on a computer in a cow shed near the River Shannon.As part of a research project,student Ronan Hickey digitized and analyzed a total of 1,882 whistles from the Irish dolphins and those from the Welsh dolphins on a computer and separated theni into six fundamental whistle types and 32 different categories.Of the categories,he found most were used by both sets of dol-phins一but eight were only heard from the Irish dolphins."We are building up a catalogue of the different whistle types they use and trying to associate them withbehavior like foraging(觅食),resting, socializing and the communications of grown.ups with calves (幼 仔),"project leader Simon Berrow said.“Essentially we are building up what is like a dictionary of wordsthey use or sounds they mnake."Berrow,a marine biologist,said the dolphins'clicks are used to find their way around and locate prey.The whistles are communications."They do a whole range 0f other sounds like barks．groans and a kind of gunshot," he said. "The gunshot is an intense pulse(脉冲)of sound. Sperm whales use it to stun(击昏)their prey.”"When I first heard it I was surprised as I thought sperm whales were the onlyh species who used it. Wecan speculate the dolphins are using it for the same reason as the sperm whales,"Berrow said.References in local legend indicate there have been dolphins in the Shannon estuary for generations and they may even have been residents there as far back as the 6th century.They are regularly seen by passengers on the Shannon ferry and an estimated 25.000 tourists every year take special sightseeing tours on local boats to visit them. The difference in eating habits between the bottle-nose dolphins arid the sperm wha1c, intcrcotcd the SDWFscientists.
A.Right B.Wrong C.Not mentioned正确答案C
