The Perception of Complex Echoes by an Echolocating Dolphin

Abstract

Dolphins echolocate with short transient broadband acoustic signals having time resolution constants between 12 and 15µs (Au, 1980). Received echoes are often complex and considerable longer in duration than the transmitted signal, having many resolvable highlights or echo components. Echo highlights come from signal reflection at external and internal boundaries of a target and from the presence of different propagational modes within a target. The purpose of his study was to investigate how dolphins perceive and characterize the strength of complex echoes.