Translations:Beluga whale/43/en
Beluga biosonar is flexible rather than mechanically fixed. In a controlled study of one trained male, ambient noise in Kaneohe Bay was 12–17 dB higher than in San Diego Bay. In the quieter environment, the whale's echolocation signals peaked mainly at 40–60 kHz with bandwidths of 15–25 kHz. In the noisier environment, peaks shifted to 100–120 kHz, bandwidths widened to 20–40 kHz, and signal intensity rose by as much as 18 dB. The authors interpreted this as adaptation of the emitted signal to the acoustic environment.[1] The result is an instructive case study, not a species-wide rule derived from a large sample.
- ↑ Au, W. W. L.; Carder, D. A.; Penner, R. H.; and Scronce, B. L. (1985). Demonstration of adaptation in beluga whale echolocation signals. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 77(2): 726–730.