How Effective Is A Bottlenose Dolphin's Echolocation?

a. Communication occurs within the dolphin itself. i. This includes a range of echolocation clicks in the dolphin sonar system used to identify objects underwater.

Anthropogenic Noise Pollution and Its Effects on Cetaceans Cetaceans use sound extensively in both communication, hunting, and navigation. However as humanity continues to make use of the ocean we are constantly filling it with equipment that produces high amounts of sound. These devices are starting to have an impact on cetaceans worldwide, from mass strandings often linked to military exercises to area denials caused by busy commercial shipping lanes and seismic surveys. If consideration is not taken towards this problem now it could develop into something that could have degrading effects on cetacean populations in the future.

I am like a Bottlenose Dolphin. In nature, Bottlenose Dolphins are known for their advance thought processing, communication skills, sense of curiosity, and open minds. Like a Bottlenose Dolphin, I have all the same attributes that make me a distinct student and individual. To the advanced mind of a Bottlenose Dolphin, the ocean is its domain that it can mature in and mold in the way it pleases. For me, the entire earth is my domain to mature in and to mold. The unique way I want to shape the future of the world is by becoming a biomedical engineer and using what I have learned during my studies to change the world of biomedicine. I will use my dolphin like attributes to aid me in reaching my goal. Once I become a biomedical engineer I will surely have accomplished my goal in life and hopefully will be well on my way to changing others way of life..

The tonal shifts allow animals such as Orcinus orca, to distinguish between a sonar, (from an active boat), oceanic sounds, to other species.

The cownose ray (Rhinoptera bonasus) is found in open Atlantic Ocean waters from Western Africa to the Northeastern United States and parts of the Caribbean. Cownose rays are a migratory species on the Atlantic Ocean, that returns to the Chesapeake Bay each summer to mate. These animals prefer warm waters up to depths of 72 feet, where they can find bottom dwelling lobsters, crabs, and small fish for prey. The cownose ray possess adaptations to easily locate, kill, and eat its prey. One such adaptation is the electroreceptors found on the ray’s snout. These creatures cruise for prey over soft mud and sand bottoms, until they sense electrical stimuli from organisms through these electroreceptors. The ray will then stir up mud or sand by fluttering

Tursiops truncatus (Bottlenose Dolphin) Body Structure Bottlenose Dolphins are a very interesting animal. They have a fusiform (Spindle shaped) body that allows them to move quickly in the water. Because of the Dolphins’ shape they have bilateral symmetry. They also have a dorsal fin, flippers, and a fluke. However, Bottlenose Dolphins do

For the first seven months of their training period, the dolphins were acquainted with several gestures and sounds. They were presented with simple two-choice sound-discrimination stimuli to familiarize them with some sounds that the study would use. Correct responses were rewarded with freshly thawed silver smelt fish. The positive reinforcement aimed at developing a positive attitude toward learning and encouraging dolphins to solve problems. Gestural training was also initiated in this period to accustom the dolphins to responses that that would later be expected from them in the study. Akeakamai was made to specialize in gestural

Bottlenose dolphins are among the most familiar cetaceans, just as whales. The Bottlenose dolphin is a primitive member of the subfamily Delphinine. Bottlenose dolphins are grey, varying from dark grey at the top near the dorsal fin to very light grey and almost white at the underside. There are two ecotypes of bottlenose dolphins the coastal and the offshore. The Coastal dolphin has a small body and large flippers to increase agility and heat dissipation. They have a limited movement into offshore waters and like shallow warm water near the shore. Coastal dolphins for the most part remain in their region. The Offshore dolphin has a large body to help conserve heat and defend itself against predators. They are less restricted in range and movement and like deep, cold waters. Offshore dolphins in the North Atlantic have migratory patterns that follow prey distribution. Bottlenose dolphins live in groups typically of 10–30 members, called pods, but group size varies from single individuals up to more than 1,000. In a case study performed by Randall Wells who is the leader of the longest study of dolphin population since 1970, it was discovered that there are three main factors that influence migration: Seasonal changes in prey location, predation pressure and reproductive requirements. (Wells, 1980). In the fall dolphins follow mullet fish when they migrate from the bays into the Gulf of Mexico to spawn. Dolphins experience the most predation pressure during the summer when

Clicks are high-frequency and directional sounds that are used to detect, discriminate and recognize objects in the environment, including potential preys (Caldwell et al., 1990; Janik, 2013). These clicks are used to locate/discriminate an object based on the returning echo, and the system is known as echolocation or biosonar (Griffin, 1958). Bottlenose dolphins produce high-frequency broadband clicks with dominant frequencies generally higher than 50-60kHz (Au, 1993).

Second, they formed a tight line stage reducing their interpair spacing, and began to undulate their swimming path up and down. During the third stage, spinner dolphins formed a circle surrounding the preys after prey densities increased as to avoid dolphins. Last stage, each pair of dolphins had the opportunity actively fed on the prey for about 10s inside the circle before taking the positions of other pairs. In this study, two response variables can be found which were the whistles rates and echolocation click rates. Both of these response variables were dependent on the foraging patterns as different foraging patterns produced different rates and sound. Besides that, the whistle rates and echolocation rates can also affected by water depth because sound can only detected within scattering layer in this

Communication between killer whales is primarily used for reproduction, orientation and hunting (Erbe, 2002; Holt et al, 2009). The three sounds that killer whales produce are echolocation clicks, whistles and pulsed calls (Deecke et al, 2005). Clicks occur in a series and are short sounds used for orientation and when finding prey; whistles are used for communication when

Recent Off-Shore drilling in the United States in the Atlantic Ocean has had a very negative effect on Bottlenose Dolphins. The noise caused from drilling has negatively affected their ability to communicate effectively. Recently off-shore drilling has increased to help create more jobs in America however, the Bottlenose Dolphins have been paying the price. Off-shore drilling creates lots of boat traffic around the drilling areas which interferes with the dolphins ability to communicate through echolocation. However the main interference with dolphins communication has been caused by seismic testing from these boats. Seismic testing is when loud blasts of compressed air are sent deep into the ocean to bounce off the seafloor to test to

While they are traveling, the dolphins often ride on bow waves or stern waves. They learned this from riding ocean swells, which they learn naturally. A bottlenose dolphin can jump up to 16 ft above the water level. When they land, it is on either their back, belly or side. This action is called a breach. Dolphins will breach for show just to get attention. To protect pods from danger, larger adult males will swim around the group and watch for predators. Their actions are like scouting for the pod. If one dolphin is sick or hurt, two others will assist it to the surface so it can breathe (Entertainment). Unlike humans, dolphins are voluntary breathers. One part of their brain must always be active in order to survive. The dolphin needs to remember to swim to the surface every so often to breathe. A dolphin can hold it’s breath for up to seven minutes. When they inhale, they’re exchanging eighty percent of the contents in their lungs (Animal Fact

Bottlenose dolphins find fish by using echolocation. This is when a dolphin sends out a beam of short sonar pulses from its melon, or forehead. The beam reflects off of fish or other objects and echoes back to the lower jaw. The echoes are then sent to the ear bones where they are characterized. Using echolocation, dolphins are able to locate prey that is buried up to one and a half feet under the sand (Cahill 140-141).

Echolocation is a sensory ability that uses the reflection of sound to locate objects. It works by emitting high frequency sound waves into their environment and reflecting off objects. The sound waves returns back to the animal for visual guidance. The information perceived from emitting the sound waves are typically