Today, I went for an adventure at Dolphin Wonderland and had some
amazing discoveries. Dolphins are really magical creatures! Do you know that
they have bad eyesight? So how do they know what is around them? Let me tell
you.
The smart me found out that dolphins have a nasal sac which they
use to send out rapid clicks that passes through their melon, also known as
their forehead. Interesting right? Indeed! The dolphin’s nasal sacs vibrates,
causing it’s melon to also vibrate, and thereafter influencing surrounding
water molecules to vibrate. As the water molecules vibrate, kinetic energy is transferred
to neighbouring water molecules. This continuous process provides an extensive
medium for the sound waves emitted from the dolphin to reach surrounding
objects. The vibration of water molecules causes the rapid clicks (sound waves)
to travel through the water in the form of a compression wave. The sound waves bounce
off the surrounding objects and are reflected back to the dolphin, allowing it
to perceive the size and distance of an object from it. Cool right?
My wife is calling me now. I have to go. Stay tuned!
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| Nasal sac refers to the air sacs below the blowhole. http://www.emeraldinsight.com/content_images/fig/0870330101004.png |
P.S.The water does not move from the dolphin to the object. The
water molecules are only temporarily displaced from their rest position. After which
those particles in the medium will return to their fixed positions. It is the sound
waves that transfer energy through the medium, from the dolphin to the object.
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| Enjoy this picture of a derp dolphin. http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enhanced/webdr03/2013/2/22/12/anigif_enhanced-buzz-21852-1361553389-10.gif |
