Underwater Sounds and the Orientation of Marine Animals, A Preliminary Survey.
Abstract
The discovery that a wide variety of underwater sounds are produced by fish and other marine animals has raised many unsolved problems concerning the biological significance of these sounds. Are they purely accidental by-products of other activities, are they used for communication from one animal to another, or do they serve in any way for orientation. Does underwater sound play any role in the navigation of fish during the long migrations which are performed by some species, or in the local movements through the deeper layers of the ocean where fish must swim through total darkness. A certain recording made in very deep water reveals a fish call followed after about 1.5 seconds by its echo from the bottom; does this indicate that fish engage in echo sounding. Answers to these questions are important to a full understanding of acoustical conditions in the ocean, and practical advantage might even be derived from a more complete knowledge of the uses which are made of underwater sounds by animals that are highly adapted to life in the ocean.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 1950
- Accession Number
- AD0895291
Entities
People
- D. R. Griffin
Organizations
- Cornell University