The Realm of The Dolphin

Words that make you wonder. . .

Dolphins are a truly amazing animal. . .nobody fully knows how they communicate, or how much of their brains they are able to utilize, but some of the most fascinating facts about dolphins are those that deal with communication. Dolphins use echolocation, or 'sonar'. With this ability, a dolphin could construct a precisely detailed auditory image of its surroundings, from a millimeter-thin wafer nearby to a fish or another dolphin four or five miles away, even in the murkiest of waters. The image is as distinct as that afforded by human sight - the acoustic perception centers of the dolphin's brain are as large, and complexly developed, as the human visual cortex. Using an echolocation scan, a dolphin can clearly "see" an entire three-dimensional landscape beneath the water. Since flesh, being mainly water itself, is also permeable to the dolphins' sonar beams, they can observe an X-raylike image of the internal organs and skeletal structure of the creatures around them, dolphin, fish, or human. Taking this one step further, it is likely that if a dolphin can send out a beam of concentrated high-frequency sound, and then translate the returning reflection of the beam into a well-defined, holographic image of its environment, why couldn't a dolphin use the same stereophonational organs to transmit an original wave of sound purposefully altered so that it already contains the same type of shape-size information as one of their reflections. . . in other words. . . send a picture. If humans could somehow find a way to "develop" the pictures of sonar echolocation. . . imagine the world of knowledge that could be gleaned from this amazing species. . .

Just some food for thought before you visit some of the most wonderful, informative, and interesting sites on the web devoted to learning and teaching about dolphins. . . Surf and Enjoy!

A note from the webmaster:
Dolphins are absolutely my favorite animal. I majored in Marine Biology the first two years of college, and wanted to be a dolphin trainer. (Unfortunately, there is not a lot of demand for people who train dolphins, so I had to modify my goals somewhat.) They are one of the brightest mammals on our world. They communicate with pictures, rather than words, as they have a highly sophisticated sonar system that allows them to actually see the object they train their sonar on, in a picture. They are to me, simply fascinating. . .
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