They might not be using their flippers to tweet on a touchscreen, but dolphins have a highly developed social structure and, just as humans do, they love to network. A long term study of Florida dolphins shows these networks are shaped by an individual’s ranging patterns and by social processes including “preference and avoidance behavior” – the equivalent of hitting the “like” button or blocking another individual.
Leaving the temporary lapse into anthropomorphism behind, this is a unique glimpse into dolphin society that helps us understand how dolphins organize themselves, who they interact with, and who they avoid, as well as when and where. It gives scientists and resource managers the information about how dolphin populations perceive and use their environment. It also helps explain how social networks influence information transfer and how they could affect breeding behavior and disease transmission.
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