I love dolphins and everyone agrees that they are so intelligent, and they can do such incredible acrobatic tricks. But how do they find their way around in the vast oceans of the world? There are no road signs. And it can get pretty dark down there. So how come they don’t keep crashing in to things?
Just imagine a human sailing across the ocean, minding his business, paddling away regardless. All of a sudden a huge wave comes along, crashes into his tiny little canoe and knocks him into the water. What would our little human do? He’d be lost, right? Now he’s floating around, aimlessly, in the middle of the ocean without even so much as a paddle. How on earth would our little human find his, or her, way home? There’s no cell phone. Amid the total chaos and panic and frustration, the cell phone was the first thing that flew overboard and sank to the bottom of the ocean. And there would be no point in shouting “Help! Somebody help me!’’. There’s no one for miles around, because this silly little human just got into his canoe and drifted off on the outgoing tide without telling anyone where he was going – just to have a bit of fun.
On the other hand, a dolphin would instinctively know exactly what to do. There are 36 different kinds of ocean dolphins and 5 fresh water dolphins. They are mammals, just like us. Even so, they can stay underwater for about fifteen minutes and dive to around 260 meters deep. The most popular known dolphin is the bottlenose dolphin. And to find their way home in the dark they use a technique which we humans call: ‘Echolocation’. By producing a clicking sound, which travels like a wave through the water, the dolphin listens as the sound hits solid objects in the distance. And when that sound bounces back it is detected by the dolphin’s lower jaw. It’s very sophisticated. The time it takes for the sound to return, the dolphin instinctively knows how far away the object is in the distance. So they never bump in to anything. Just imagine shouting inside a tunnel and listening to your voice echoing in the distance, only, echolocation is much-much more precise. It’s also a bit like being able to see around corners. In the ocean wilds, dolphins can detect danger or food that they cannot even see.
But our little human may not be completely lost. He has copied the echolocation technique very well, with radar and sonar equipment. Now, if only our little human had thought to pack something like that into his tiny canoe.
About the author: Alan Williams is the author of ‘Archy The Flying Dolphin & The Vampire’s Curse’. It is the first in a series of children’s fantasy adventures books.
To find out more, visit: www.archytheflyingdolphin.com
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment