How does dolphin echolocation work?
Dolphins (and other toothed whales) can produce a series of high-pitched clicks which are projected from their melon (the part of their head that resembles a “forehead”) as sound waves. When the clicks hit an object, some of the sound will bounce (or echo) back to the “sender.” The dolphin then receives this information back through its lower jaw, which has an oil-filled cavity that conducts the sound waves back to the nerves that will then relay the information to the brain. With its echolocation, the dolphin is able to obtain information about the structure, size, and density of an object (even the speed and direction it is traveling if the object is moving).
