A Phenomenon Discovered While Imaging Dolphin Echolocation Sounds

Our overall goal is to analyze dolphin sounds to determine if dolphins utilize language or perhaps pictorial information in their complex whistles and clicks. We have recently discovered a novel phenomenon in images derived from digital recordings of the sounds of dolphins echolocating on submerged objects. Hydrophone recordings of dolphin echolocation sounds were input to a CymaScope, an analog instrument in which a water-filled, fusedquartz cell is acoustically excited in the vertical axis by a voice coil motor directly coupled to the cell. The resulting wave patterns were recorded with a digital video camera. We observed the formation of transient wave patterns in some of the digital video frames that clearly matched the shapes of the objects on which the dolphin echolocated, including a closed cell foam cube, a PVC cross, a plastic flowerpot, and a human subject. As further confirmation of this phenomenon the images were then converted into 3-dimensional computer models. The computer models were made such that the thickness at any given point was proportional to the brightness of a contrast-enhanced image with brighter areas thicker and darker areas thinner. These 3-dimensional virtual models were then printed in photopolymers utilizing a high definition 3D printer.