Those impulse signals range from 35 to 135 kilohertz in frequency and 80 to 100 kilohertz of bandwidth.ĭolphins are able to “tune” their sonar for various tasks. The research is part of the Navy’s Marine Mammal Program, which works under the auspices of the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center San Diego.ĭolphins emit short echolocation clicks on the order of 100 microseconds in beam patterns that shift in frequencies, source levels and bandwidth. Whales have similar abilities, but the bottlenose dolphin resides in regions of the ocean where the Navy wants to deploy advanced sonar: in the littorals, or coastal waters of the world. They produce ultrasonic sounds that reflect off objects to “see” the environment around them. It now appears that in the brains of one of those mammals - the bottlenose dolphin - could reside the secret to even more powerful underwater sensors.īy studying how the marine mammals interpret the signals they emit and receive in the water, researchers believe they can eventually develop a short range, high-resolution sonar to detect man-made objects in the noisy coastal waters and on the littered sea floor.ĭolphins, like bats, have a biological sonar system called echolocation.

SAN DIEGO - The Navy’s submarine-hunting sonars have been accused of harming marine mammals.

Dolphin brain