Dolphins recorded chatting 'like two people'

It turns out the language of dolphins is a whole lot more like the language of humans than we had ever realized. Although scientists have long known certain mammals use distinct sounds to express themselves, researchers at the Karadag Nature Reserve in Feodosia, Russia, have recorded for the first time dolphins using individual "words" to make "sentences" in the same way that people communicate with one another, The Telegraph reports.

Yasha and Yana, two Black Sea bottlenose dolphins, would apparently listen to a "sentence" without interrupting before adding their own reply of pulses. "Essentially, this exchange resembles a conversation between two people," lead researcher Dr. Vyacheslav Ryabov said. He went on:

The next step is clear: deciphering the dolphin's "words" and communicating back to them. "Humans must take the first step to establish relationships with the first intelligent inhabitants of the planet Earth by creating devices capable of overcoming the barriers that stand in the way of using languages and in the way of communications between dolphins and people," Ryabov said.

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