How Do Dolphins Detect Pregnancies?

Dolphins have the ability of echolocation, which they use to send out sounds to see what objects are around them, how big they are, and what features they are likely to have. They also use this ability to detect their prey.

For dolphins, this skill is a necessity, since they aren’t able to see very well underwater where it’s murky. Some dolphins are even totally blind!

This is very similar to how ultrasound technology works. In fact, ultrasound technology was developed by studying echolocation!

Ultrasound machines that are used during pregnancies use a machine that sends out a sound (outside of the human audible range) into the mother. This bounces back and creates an image of the fetus on the screen using computer technology.

Since dolphins are using pretty much the same skills as doctors do in detecting and monitoring pregnancies, it’s logical to assume that they’d be able to detect pregnancies as well, though they may not know what exactly they are detecting.

There is also research to suggest that dolphins are able to ‘see’ through opaque, hollow objects, which is further evidence that dolphins are most likely able to tell when someone is pregnant.

Dolphins Display Excitement Around Pregnant Women

While there is still research to be carried out to determine for sure if dolphins can sense when someone is pregnant, there is also other evidence.

For example, dolphins do tend to show a lot of interest in and excitement around pregnant women. In fact, dolphin trainers have said that their dolphins change behavior if they are pregnant, and other pregnant women in the water have claimed that dolphins come up to them and show interest in their stomach region.

Some dolphins make a buzzing sound around the abdomen region of a pregnant woman, which is a form of very concentrated echolocation. They may be doing this to focus hard on what they are sensing inside the woman’s womb and create a mental picture for themselves.

In fact, to further solidify this theory, dolphins also use the same buzzing sound when they are around other pregnant dolphins!

Are Dolphins Accurate In Detecting Pregnancy?

From research, baby dolphins probably don’t have the same echolocation ability that adult dolphins do. They do make vocalizations, but we can consider these similar to ‘baby talk’ and assume that they are still learning how to use sound to detect objects around them.

So while an adult dolphin may be able to accurately detect pregnancy in a woman, a baby dolphin or one with an impaired echolocation ability may not. However, since humans don’t have echolocation abilities (which is why we rely on ultrasounds!), we can't really tell if a dolphin detected a pregnancy correctly or not.

In any case, they’re not a very good replacement for a pregnancy test…even if they can be accurate!