Modeling and simulation of surface-and-dive behavior of a bottlenose dolphin

Abstract

In this paper, we present a biomechanical model capable of generating six-DoF trajectories of a swimming dolphin. Our model attempts to closely emulate an actual surfacing and diving dolphin. The degree of biomechanical complexity of our model stands as a reasonable compromise between a complicated flexible multi-link body and an overly-simplified pointmass. We constructed our model through analyzing previously reported results and statistics on hydrodynamics, kinematics, maneuverability and propulsive efficiency of bottlenose dolphins observed during their surface-and-dive, porpoising and foraging behaviors. The results of our model's computer simulations match the previous reports on the dolphins' buoyancy, depth profiles, and speeds during ascent, descent, and porpoising activities.