It turns out Flipper probably had a very different name long before we came and named the famous fish!
Scientists in Scotland have found that dolphins use “signature whistles” to call out to each other. Signature whistles are specific tunes dolphins use to identify other dolphins. Just like you would call out “Susan!” if you saw your friend across the street, dolphins use these signature whistles to get each others attention.
The scientists discovered that like human names, each dolphin has their own unique tune that’s just for them and that anyone or anything can call to get a dolphin to answer! They watched as different dolphins called out to one another and eventually they recorded the signature whistles on a computer and called out to the dolphins themselves. When a dolphin heard their whistled name coming from the computer, they would swim up to the boat to see who had called them.
Scientists are not yet sure whether they use the names in the third person (if two dolphins will whistle a third dolphins name to talk about him/her and not just to him/her) but believe it’s more than possible that they do.
Maybe Dory will learn to speak Whale and Dolphin in the 2015 movie FINDING DORY!