Echolocation: Bats, Dolphins and Whales

Echolocation is a biological sonar used by animals like bats and dolphins to navigate and hunt by emitting sound waves and interpreting the returning echoes. It helps detect object location, size, and movement in their environment.

Table of Contents

Context: A new study has revealed how bats use adjusted echolocation to avoid collisions when flying in large groups.

What is Echolocation?

Echolocation is a form of biological sonar employed by some animals—like bats, dolphins, whales, and some birds and shrews—to navigate, find prey, and perceive their environment.

How Echolocation Works?

The animal produces high-frequency sound waves.
The sound waves reflect off objects and come back as echoes.
By interpreting the echoes, the animal calculates the distance, size, shape, and texture of objects, and their movement and direction.

How Do Bats Avoid Crashing?

Bats use sound (echolocation) to fly safely.
When too many bats echolocate together, their sounds get mixed up, this leads to a phenomenon called echolocation jamming.
Despite the intense jamming, bats avoid mid-air collisions by adapting their behaviour and echolocation strategy. The two strategies are:
- Spreading out to reduce density.
- Shorter, weaker, higher-frequency calls.