In a groundbreaking new study, a dolphin named Zeus is shattering our understanding of marine mammal communication. Captured making distinct vowel sounds—A, E, O, U—this vocalization marks the first known instance of a dolphin attempting to mimic human speech patterns.

Dolphin Mimics 4 Vowels: The Fundamental Sounds of all Human Languages

“DID A DOLPHIN JUST TRY TO SPEAK TO ME?”

DUNNELLON, Fla., April 22, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — “A,E,O,U”–these are the vowels the dolphin, Zeus, made that grabbed the attention of lead researcher Jack Kassewitz and led to this groundbreaking paper, “Novel Dolphin Vocalization”, available to read for free by clicking here: J&J Publishing NDV; or on ResearchGate with a subscription.

The paper reveals the intricate cognitive capabilities of dolphins and their sophisticated understanding of mimicry as a tool for interspecies communication.

Lead researcher Jack Kassewitz records Zeus the dolphin
Lead researcher Jack Kassewitz records Zeus the dolphin; Photo: J&J PUBLISHING LLC

Using acoustic analysis of Zeus’ spontaneous vocalizations, scientists at Speak Dolphin have discovered striking similarities to human vowels in terms of complexity, frequency, amplitude, and duration. This suggests that dolphins possess a level of vocal control and dexterity enabling them to potentially mimic and replicate sounds from other species, including humans.

“I am convinced that some dolphins, Zeus in particular, are as determined to communicate with us as we are with them. For dolphins living among humans, it seems natural that they might attempt to bridge the communication gap with the people around them. We have heard anecdotal reports over the decades of similar dolphin mimicry. Finally, we can analyze these specialized vocalizations with our advanced software,” stated Kassewitz.

Differing from humans, dolphin vocalizations come from their blowhole, not their mouth. Air sacs–not vocal cords–below the blowhole are used to emit a wide variety of complex sounds, many of them above human hearing range.

Kassewitz explained how the discovery came about. “I missed it at first. Because they live in aquatic environments, dolphins’ brains have adapted to process sound much faster than humans. As researchers, it’s often challenging to recognize dolphins’ very fast-paced acoustic patterns while recording on location.”

“It was while I was reviewing the research session recordings later, that the vowel sounds–A,E,O,U– first caught my attention. I was astonished and puzzled because it was quite different from Zeus’ normal vocalization.”

“It’s important to note that when dolphins vocalize to communicate with each other, it is naturally under water. However, when dolphins vocalize above the water surface, it is almost certainly to get the attention of nearby humans. Zeus’ vowel vocalizations–made with his head above water and directed at our research team–demonstrates how intentional his efforts were.”

“Zeus seemed to be demonstrating that he recognized the basic building blocks of English, Spanish and all other human languages. We call those building blocks–vowels, and here was Zeus mimicking them.”

The implications of this discovery are profound, as it suggests that dolphins may be capable of utilizing mimicry not only as a form of play or social bonding but also as a deliberate strategy for communication and interaction with other species. This could open new avenues for understanding dolphin intelligence, communication, and social behavior, as well as their potential for interspecies cooperation and coexistence.

In 2015, the Speak Dolphin team of researchers published a groundbreaking peer-reviewed paper titled “A Phenomenon Discovered While Imaging Dolphin Echolocation Sounds.” This paper detailed their innovative work in visualizing and understanding the way dolphins “acoustically see” the world around them using echolocation. The research team’s findings were significant, as they provided the first-ever glimpse into the mental imagery a dolphin generates when it uses echolocation to perceive a human.

SOURCE: J&J PUBLISHING LLC

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