Origin of the off-axis double-pulse in an echolocating bottlenose dolphin

Abstract

It has been proposed that two pairs of phonic lips might be utilized by a dolphin to adaptively manipulate the frequency content and directionality of the echolocation beam in response to acquired target information. The presence of two pulses appearing off-axis of the echolocation beam and separated in time has been proposed as evidence supporting this hypothesis. An array containing 35 hydrophones was used to measure the beam pattern of a bottlenose dolphin performing a phantom echo-change detection task. Simulated target ranges varied from 2.5 to 80 m and clicks were measured at 5–10° resolution from + /150°. At recording angles beyond + /30°, the click appeared as two distinct pulses that declined in amplitude and distorted as the off-axis angle increased. A simple model utilizing the time difference of arrival for the two pulses was used to compare the direct source-receiver path to one of two source-reflector-receiver paths. Assuming a range of constant sound speeds, distances traveled were compared to a CT scan of the same animal to predict anatomical regions potentially contributing to the second pulse. Results suggest that the second pulse is due to reflections from internal structures of the dolphin head and not a second sound source.