Who can resist calling out when they are in a tunnel, or an empty room? There’s something about hearing your echo that is fascinating and surreal. But for many animals around the world, it’s more than just a random shout in an abyss – it’s the reason they are able to move around.
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Echolocation is Nature’s in-built sonar system – it occurs when an animal releases a sound wave, which bounces off objects and returns an echo that gives the animal information about the object’s distance and size. According to a February 2021 report in the National Geographic, over 1,000 known species around the world echolocate, and they often do it in the most intriguing ways, from vibrating their throats to flapping their wings.
Bats are the ultimate echolocators. They contract the muscles of their larynx to make sounds that are far above the range of human hearing. If we could hear it, it would be like a bat’s version of a shout! These nocturnal creatures are such experts, they can zero in on objects as small as 0.007 inches – the width of human hair. While on the move, they send out clicks (as many as 190 in a second), that help them find their prey.
Echolocation is also the modus operandi of several marine creatures, which makes sense because sound travels five times faster than air, in the ocean. Dolphins echolocate with a specialised organ called the dorsal bursae, which is close to their blowhole on top of their heads. In the case of harbour porpoises, which are hunted by orcas, they make rapid, high-frequency echolocation clicks that their predators cannot hear, so that they remain incognito.
But it’s not just animals who can echolocate. People who are blind or have visual impairments use the skill by making clicks with their tongues or objects, like canes, and then navigating via the resulting echo. A March 2009 study in the international journal Acta Acustica united with Acustica found that while it’s not easy, with patience, people can actually teach themselves to echolocate.
What do you think of this remarkable ability? Play today’s Word Search and let us know at games@gulfnews.com.
