Turtles aren't chatterboxes, but they do talk to each other.
New research shows turtles communicate underwater with low-pitched calls in order to help them travel together, find mates or direct their young.
Richard Vogt, a researcher with the National Institute of Amazonian Research in Manaus, Brazil, has collected vocalizations from eight species of turtles, in addition to other species already known to communicate vocally. More than 40 different species of turtles have been shown to make noises.
"You're watching a sand beach in the Amazon, and in a manner of minutes, 200 turtles all come out at the same time and start sunning. How do they decide to do it? By talking to each other," Vogt told Newsweek.
Adult turtles aren't doing all of the talking. The tiny reptiles can communicate inside of their eggs, too. This helps them synchronize when they hatch. Once they break free, the other turtles call back and forth with the hatchlings to help direct them to the right location.
This communication is the first proof of post-hatchling parental care in any kind of turtle, Vogt told Newsweek.
The discovery didn't come sooner because turtles rarely use their voice. Vogt noted he wouldn't hear the turtles for hours. The turtle also emits a low-pitched call underwater (where most communications take place) that travels farther. Adults over 40 can't register the low sound and it "can easily be masked by the sound of a swimming human," according to Newsweek.
"Flippers and air bubbles are enough to drown out the sounds turtles make," Vogt said.
The animals also don't communicate in captivity.
"If you put them in a wading pool, they vocalize for a few days and then they stop," the turtle specialist said. In zoos, "There's nothing there; they're not talking."
Since their vocalizations register so low, turtles have a greater susceptibility to noise pollution than previously thought. Human-made sounds like ship traffic and acoustic testing can interfere with turtle communication.
"We were ignorant regarding underwater vocal communication in turtles and did not consider effects of noise pollution, thus virtually nothing is presently known on its impacts," Gerald Kuchling told Newsweek. The research from the University of Western Australian was not involved in Vogt's present research.
"There is now some urgency to find out if and which noises disrupt their functioning."
