A new project will put dolphins in the Shannon estuary in touch with the world using mobile-phone technology, writes Sarah Marriott
Now almost everyone in the country has a mobile phone, it's time for dolphins to get one too, says Dr Simon Berrow of the Shannon Dolphin and Wildlife Foundation, with a twinkle in his eyes.
Although the bottle-nosed dolphins in the Shannon Estuary won't be able to phone a friend, stressed commuters in Dublin, London or New York will be able to ring them, thanks to ground-breaking technology being developed by the foundation in partnership with Vodafone's corporate social responsibility programme.
The Soundwaves project will put a hydrophone underwater in the estuary to capture the dolphins' "vocalisations" - their clicks, whistles, groans and bangs - and then, using mobile-phone technology, transmit the signal to a receiving station in Kilrush, Co Clare. By next summer, the Soundwaves team hopes that visitors who travel to see the dolphins will be able to clearly hear their "conversations", and that the rest of us will be able to listen on the Internet and, eventually, on our phones.
"The Shannon Estuary is possibly the most important site for dolphins in Europe," says Dr Berrow, a marine biologist who has been monitoring the dolphins there since 1993. "It's home to the only known resident group of dolphins in Ireland and the only calving area we know of." Although researchers have identified some 140 Shannon dolphins, by using photographs to compare the distinctive markings on dorsal fins, their work is hampered by poor visibility and bad weather. The murkiness of the water also means it is difficult to monitor dolphins' behaviour and learn how they interact and communicate with each other. The hydrophone has a more serious purpose than merely transporting tired commuters to the west of Ireland; it will allow researchers to listen to the dolphins without intruding into their world.
"We are visual creatures, but dolphins live in an acoustic world," says Dr Berrow. "They find their way around and communicate by sound. If a dolphin looks straight at you, it's listening. We need to tap into the senses they use." Researchers have discovered that dolphins use echolocation (clicks and pulses) to navigate and hunt fish, and whistles to communicate with each other - each dolphin has an identifiable whistle; no two are alike.
"The Soundwaves project will give us a greater understanding of how they communicate, as we will be able to bring in signals day and night, summer and winter," says Dr Berrow. "It will also help us monitor them, which is important because the area is a Special Area of Conservation (SAC), so the dolphins and their environment must be protected. The only limit to what we can do with this project is our imagination." Last year, about 18,000 people went on dolphin-watching trips in the Shannon Estuary but, because it is an SAC, strict guidelines are followed. No boat spends more than 30 minutes with one group of dolphins, each sighting is logged in detail and boats cannot chase the dolphins. As tourist numbers increase, the research team will be able to use the hydrophone to assess if the mammals are being affected by dolphin-watching, by the noise of boats' engines or by pollution. "The ultimate aim is sustainability of the dolphin population," says Dr Berrow. The resident population is thought to be about 50, with hundreds more visiting to fish and to calve between May and September.
Some Shannon dolphin trips currently use a hydrophone but, while it is a thrill to hear the clicks and whistles of the graceful creatures jumping alongside the boat, the sound quality is like that of a badly-tuned radio. The Soundwaves project hopes to provide high quality sound with non-dolphin noises filtered out and to visually represent the clicks and whistles by real-time frequency graphs on the Web and on screens in Kilrush's visitor centre.
The submarine hydrophone here will be the first to use mobile phone technology; the only other similar project, in Canada, uses an underwater cable to transmit sound signals.
"Technically, this is a very complex project," says Brian Holmes, an oceanographer at UCC's Hydraulics and Maritime Research Centre, who is responsible for getting the data back to shore.
The main difficulties, says Holmes, include the harsh marine environment (even designing a hydrophone frame which will survive the winter could be a problem); the sound quality (how to separate background noises of waves, boats and shrimp snapping their claws from the dolphins) and the sheer technical feat of transmitting phone signals from underwater.
Soundwaves would be impossible without the expertise of a mobile phone company, says Holmes. Vodafone is providing funding and technical know-how via its Vodafone Ireland Foundation, a charity launched last month which has €500,000 to allocate to registered Irish charities in its first year.
The foundation is part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Programme which aims to "maximise the environmental and societal benefits that mobile telecommunications can bring while minimising any negative impacts". It plans to focus on telemedicine and "partnering environmental and conservation groups to help enrich the local communities in which Vodafone's customers, employees, investors and suppliers operate".
"Soundwaves is an exciting project," says Olivia Dobbs, the company's CSR manager in Ireland. "Corporate responsibility is not about just writing a cheque and walking away; it's a partnership. It's about sharing skills and working together from start to finish." She is keen to support projects which can use mobile-phone technology, such as text messaging for people with visual impairment, but the final decisions on funding will be made by the foundation's board.
When the Soundwaves team overcomes the technical and logistical problems, it will be making a valuable contribution to international marine research. Maybe one day we'll be able to understand what the dolphins are communicating; let's just hope it's not: "So long and thanks for the fish."
- Shannon Dolphin and Wildlife
- Foundation: www.shannondolphins.ie
- Vodafone Ireland Foundation:
- www.vodafonegroupfoundation.com
- /ireland.htm