Dolphin Echolocation Suggests New Types of Underwater Acoustic Communication
Pods consist of a few, up to several dozen dolphins; in order to communicate with other dolphins in its group dolphins emit high-frequency sounds such as clicking noises and whistles. We know that each individual dolphin has its own whistle to signal its appearance and identify itself. This type of communication through sounds is called echolocation. The dolphin’s echolocation abilities are amazing because of the sheer distance over which dolphins can convey information underwater, as well as the accuracy involved. Dolphins can identify other members of their group from as far as 25km away, and have conversations with them. The further the distance, the more sounds traveling underwater collide with other random sounds and receive interference from sounds reverberating off the ocean floor, until they become much weaker in the end. As a result, the sound traveling to the listener becomes different in nature from the original sound, and often the information attempting to be conveyed cannot be understood. However, dolphins can change frequencies while emitting noises and simultaneously combine a number of sounds in order to make sure that the sounds – along with their conveyed information – do not weaken as they travel. In the dark ocean where it is impossible to see very far, it is much more effective for dolphins to depend upon far-traveling sounds rather than light or sight. Living in the ocean, dolphins have acquired an incredible advantage with their abilities to emit sounds while freely changing their frequency and distinguish between sounds.
- Resouce/Energy/Information Transmission & Production:
- Transmission
We could place devices capable of transmitting sounds with combined frequencies, similar to the dolphin’s abilities, along with tsunami gauges at various places on the ocean floor in order to create a tsunami early-warning system. In order to accurately predict and where tsunamis will occur (and send out a timely alert before the tusnami reaches land), we need to place observation equipment in the deep sea at a depth (6000m below sea level) where waves are created by earthquakes. The observed data would travel as sound to landmark buoys on the surface of the ocean, and then travel on to reach the satellites with tsunami warning sensors. From there, warnings would be directly transmitted to national and local governments, as well as various other organizations. Using the dolphin’s communication methods as a model, German corporations have already begun to develop high-efficiency underwater modems with frequency modulation, which have been installed at the bottom of the Indian Ocean and used as part of tsunami warning systems.
- Tsunami warning systems.
Multiple fields could utilize accurate information transmission technologies using underwater acoustic communication in cases where it may be difficult for people to take direct action in the ocean, such as with scientific research and resource exploration, construction work, safety and disaster prevention, and harbor and coastal security. For example, it is not possible for humans to descend to the deep sea, but it could be possible to send in unmanned probes and robots, controlled wirelessly from land bases, in order to perform resource exploration and send help in times of disaster. If we use scientific observation equipment placed on the bottom of the ocean, many organizations can also share wireless acoustic communication networks without the need for cables.
- Dolphins.
Photo by Judith Bakker
From the Amazing Nature Database.
