The dolphins that sound like a chorus of squeaking mice

Close-up footage reveals the underwater world of timid dolphins and their melodic chants that sound like a chorus of squeaking mice.

The shy striped dolphins produced the weird sound while being observed by a stunned whale-watching tour group according to Daily mail .

Striped dolphins are known for being the most illusive of all dolphin species, who normally keep their distance from humans and boats, making this footage particularly rare.

The footage was shot by underwater videographer, Stefano Ulivi, 42, who was amazed by the long and loud ultrasonic sound of the group as they swam away from the boat.

In the footage, the dolphins swim away, acrobatically leaping out of the water and plunging back beneath the surface – all while emitting the unusual sound compared to ‘mouse squeaks’.

Mr Ulivi, said: you can find five different species of dolphin, in this case we were next to a group of striped dolphins.

‘This species is the shyest and the most scared species of dolphin of the area, they don’t like the boat.

‘Every time we tried to approach them, they were swimming away and jumping out of the water in that way’, he said. 

Striped dolphins communicate using click-whistles and pulse sounds using echolocation.

This enables them to track objects in dim or dark water and their complex array of whistle sounds also allows the dolphins to talk to one another.  

They live in pods of 100 to 500 individuals which are organised by age, gender and reproduction status.

Sometimes they can even form groups with thousands of individuals.

Mr Ulivi compared the noise to the sound produced by mouse – but only louder and more sustained.  

The footage was particularly rare as the sea was flat and the lighting was good.  

This species of dolphin lives in temperate and tropical waters.

Although rarely spotted, they can also be found off the coasts largely found between July and September.

N.H.Kh