The difficulties of such understanding as we can possibly gain of the
real situation of the whales in the sea and their adaptation as mammals
to this particular environment, can be illustrated by their use of sonic
generators for the location of their prey and of the boundaries of their
container by means of the perception of echoes. As is well known, the
small mammals, such as the bat, use this mechanism in air.[9] The
bottlenose dolphin also uses this same kind of mechanism underwater.[7]
[9][10] Because these animals are immersed in a medium of a density and
a sound velocity comparable to the density and sound velocity of their
own bodies, they can presumably use their sonar also in looking, as it
were, inside one another’s body.[7] The sonar view of the inside of the
body of a dolphin may possibly be very instructive to other dolphins and
possibly even aid in diagnosis of the causes of certain problems,
especially of those of the baby by the mother. For example, their
buoyancy depends upon maintaining their center of gravity below their
center of buoyancy; otherwise they turn over and drown. If the baby
develops gas in stomach #1, he can develop problems in his buoyancy
relationship which turn him over; however, the mother dolphin can
probably easily find out whether or not there is a bubble of gas in the
baby’s stomach by her echo ranging abilities. When she discovers such a
bubble, she can then burp the baby by banging on the belly with her
beak. We have seen such operations take place in our tanks. Here is
another instance of the animal using a given output, coupled with the
proper input, to diagnose a problem and to manipulate other outputs in
the solution of that problem. How much of this is labeled “instinctual,”
i.e., “unlearned,” is purely a matter of intellectual taste.
In the sea it is necessary to use sonic mechanisms for sightings and
recognition. If one goes into the sea one realizes that one’s range of
vision even under the best of circumstances is rarely beyond 100 feet
and most of the time is less than that even near the brilliantly lit
surface of the tropical seas. With sonic means, one’s range is extended
up to several miles under the best of circumstances and under the worst
to a few hundred feet.
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