Daily news highlights are bringing a fascinating update about how dolphins use echolocation. A new study published in the journal PLOS ONE shows that dolphins might not be “seeing with sound” as many thought, but rather “touching with sound.” This discovery is changing the way scientists understand how dolphins find their way and detect objects underwater.
For a long time, people believed that dolphins used echolocation in a way similar to vision. Like sonar on a submarine, dolphins make clicking sounds, and when those sounds bounce off objects, they “see” what’s around them. However, new research shows that dolphin brains might use echolocation more like touch than vision.
1. What Is Echolocation?
Echolocation is a special skill some animals use to move and hunt, especially in dark or murky places. Dolphins, bats, and some whales use it. They make sounds that bounce off things, and then they listen carefully to the echoes. This helps them understand where objects are, how far away they are, and what they might be.
- Dolphins emit clicking sounds underwater.
- The sounds bounce back after hitting an object.
- The dolphin uses this echo to locate the object, just like we might feel around in the dark.
This process has long been thought to work like seeing, but now scientists say it might be more like touching through sound.
2. New Brain Study Gives a Surprise
Researchers studied the preserved brains of three dolphin species and compared them to a sei whale, which does not use echolocation. They used advanced scanning techniques to track how water moves in brain tissues, helping them understand brain pathways.
- They found strong connections between the inferior colliculus and the cerebellum in dolphins.
- These parts of the brain help in hearing and fast body movement, not vision.
- The visual cortex, once thought to be highly active during echolocation, showed no special activity.
This means dolphins might be using their echolocation in a way similar to how humans use touch to explore the world quickly, like when we reach out in the dark to find our keys.
3. Echolocation Is Like Touching
According to the study’s senior author, Peter Cook, echolocation is not about creating a picture in the brain. Instead, it’s more like constant feedback between movement and feeling, just like touch.
- The cerebellum helps dolphins react quickly, without having to think too much.
- Every small movement gives new information.
- This feedback loop of “move-feel-move” works like how we feel around with our hands.
Sophie Flem, the study’s lead author, says this makes sense because dolphins need to adjust their actions constantly while hunting.
4. Dolphin Sonar Beam Is Narrow Like a Finger’s Touch
Dolphins use a narrow sonar beam to scan the ocean, much like a person feeling around in the dark. Humans can see 180 degrees at once, but dolphins must move their sonar beam back and forth to understand their surroundings.
This makes echolocation more focused and gradual, much like touching rather than seeing everything at once. It’s like how we use our hands to feel small details in the dark.
5. Understanding Dolphin Senses Is Still Developing
Lori Marino, a neuroscientist mentioned in the study, reminds us that humans may never fully understand how echolocation feels to a dolphin. The way dolphins use their senses could be completely different from anything humans experience.
“Some animal senses might not have a human comparison,” Marino says. “We just have to accept that.”
This Breaking News brings a fresh way to think about dolphin echolocation—not as seeing with sound, but as touching with sound. Scientists are still exploring how these smart sea animals use their brains in amazing ways. The Daily news highlights from this study show us how complex and fascinating animal senses can be, and how much we still have to learn from nature.
