A DOLPHIN has been talking to himself and crying into the void for years as he swims in the Baltic Sea alone, a heartbreaking study has found.
The bottlenose dolphin called Delle explores the Baltic Sea alone despite his species being incredibly social.
They often interact with each other by whistling and commonly travel and hunt in pods made up of between 10 and 30 members.
But, superpods have been recorded of over 1,000 bottlenose dolphins.
In 2019, Delle somehow wandered into Denmark’s Svendborgsund Channel, a place where bottlenose dolphins do not live.
Despite this, he has lived there for years which saw researchers launch a study into the lonely dolphin using underwater recording technology to see if he made any sounds.
Over 10,800 bursts of clicks, whistles, and other sounds were picked up during the 69-day study.
Though he had a lot to say, his unanswered calls lacked “intentionality” as Delle is entirely alone, the results published last month revealed.
Even more heartbreaking is that researchers initially thought there were multiple dolphins as he spoke to himself using a variety of noises, almost mimicking other friends.
Three distinctly different whistles were recorded.
This is unusual as bottlenose dolphins have “signature whistles, believed to be unique to each individual, much like a name,” Olga Filatova, the lead author of the study told Live Science.
Researchers noted that they initially thought there were three different dolphins rather than just one.
They said: “It is highly unusual that the dolphin produced these sounds without any conspecifics present.”
No reason was found that explained Delle’s loneliness.
Scientists believe his “self-talk” likely comes from his need for social interaction.
An initial theory was that Delle was trying to communicate with humans such as a local paddleboarder.
Bottlenose Dolphins can be found in most oceans across the world, typically in tropical and temperate climates.
Usually grey, these mammals are between two and four metres long and have a distinctive beak that makes it look like they are smiling.
They are incredibly social and live in pods that can have hundreds of members.
This species of dolphin eats fish, squid, small rays and crustaceans.
The females are pregnant for about 12 months and they then typically nurse a calf for up to 24 months.
Bottlenose dolphins have an average lifespan of 22.8 years.
However, this idea fell through when he was recorded making the same noises at night and other times when no humans were around.
Due to the length of time he has spent alone in the region, it is also unlikely that he is still trying to find other dolphins.
Filatova believes the sounds could be involuntary and triggered by emotion, like when humans laugh even if they are alone.
The researchers wrote: “Dolphin ‘communicative’ sounds may be produced unintentionally as emotional signals or serve functions other than communication.”
It is not known how long the 17-year-old dolphin has been alone and if his solitary lifestyle predates his arrival off the Danish coast.
