Read, listen, and explore cetacean communication.
A starting point for exploring dolphin communication, animal cognition, and the tools used to study sound.
These links lead to material you can use now. Choose a route based on what you want to understand, then return to the primary sources when you need the evidence behind a claim.
Search these resources by topic →
Start with the glossary when an unfamiliar term interrupts your reading. Use it to distinguish an acoustic description, a behavioral observation, and an interpretation of what an animal might be communicating. A definition is a starting point for asking a more precise question.
Read the glossary →The research archive brings together papers and annotations. Follow the source links to inspect methods, study populations, and limitations. When reading a summary, keep a note of what the underlying study actually measured and how that differs from the headline.
Browse the research archive →The sound guide introduces whistles, clicks, and burst pulses and points to recordings published by the Wild Dolphin Project. Keep the researchers’ descriptions alongside the audio. The guide explains why a sound alone does not provide a translation.
Explore the sound guide →The visualizer uses synthesized examples to demonstrate how sound appears in different displays. Compare a waveform with a frequency view. These examples illustrate the tool; they are not field recordings or evidence of particular dolphin meanings.
Open the visualizer →The reading list gathers books across cetacean communication, cognition, philosophy, and AI. Choose a subject, read its introduction, and use the references to develop a reading path of your own. The links lead to books rather than downloadable copies supplied by this website.
Open the reading list →The newsletter brings research questions and editorial context together. Visit its page to learn about the publication, or go to Substack to see the current subscription options. For a question about a source or a suggested correction, contact Noah directly.
Explore the newsletter → Send a question