Abstract
The results of measuring the sonar signals produced by a beluga whale when locating a target presented at a distance of 600 m are discussed. The head of the beluga whale was positioned at a depth of 1.5 m, and the acoustic pulses emitted by the animal were measured by a horizontal chain of four hydrophones, which was placed at a distance of 1.8 m from the head. The analysis of time sequences of acoustic signals generated by the beluga whale demonstrated that the animal, when searching for an underwater object, uses trains of pulses following at intervals of Δt < 5 ms and emitted within a wide sector (up to 36°). It performs scanning by beamed single pulses with Δt up to 200 ms, and, when it detects the target, it irradiates the latter with a group of such signals. To locate a difficult target (at a small depth and a large distance), the beluga whale uses trains of pulses with a duration of up to 0.6 s and a time-pulse modulation.
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Original Russian Text © A.N. Rutenko, A.A. Vishnyakov, 2006, published in Akusticheskiĭ Zhurnal, 2006, Vol. 52, No. 3, pp. 375–384.
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Rutenko, A.N., Vishnyakov, A.A. Time sequences of sonar signals generated by a beluga whale when locating underwater objects. Acoust. Phys. 52, 314–323 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063771006030122
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063771006030122