AG1086A Concept Development: Whale Hearing System

These pictures show more of the direction of where my honours project is heading as it shows a evey in depht diagrams of a underwater mammals hearing system in the top two pictures but the bottom two pictures show the size of a whales ear.

 

http://scienceblogs.com/retrospectacle/2007/02/what_does_a_whales_ear_look_li.php

http://dangthatscool.wordpress.com/2009/12/03/fascinating-animals-1-whales/

 (See picture below the fold of bulla taken from a 20 ft humpback whale.)

http://scienceblogs.com/retrospectacle/2007/02/what_does_a_whales_ear_look_li.php

http://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/viewArticle.do?id=5759

Potential Project Aim

This is my potential project aim was To invesigate how using sonar sound gives an accurate distance reading and what affects will using sonar have on marine life. After a email conversation with one of my lecturers it has come to my attention that apart from the word sonar the project will have very little sound element .

Therefore i have been advised if i want to continue along this type of project to modify my idea so it involves a more sound based project, so i have decided  to investigate the idea suggested to me in more depth.

Evidence

Hi Craig,

This is certainly an interesting and challenging idea, but I'm not sure it's one that I'd advise you take forward.

Firstly, there's the subject area. Okay, sonar is based on sound, but beyond that there's little if any connection with sound production.

More importantly, for the investigation part (looking at the effects on marine biology), that's definitely not sound production. What sort of experience do you have here? Could you make any meaningful observations of the marine impact? Significantly, how would you carry out a study of this type to draw any sort of conclusions?

What I'd suggest, then, is that you use this ad a starting point and see if you can pull your ideas more towards sound production. For example, if you're really interested in the marine environment, and the impact of noise pollution, why not create an undersea soundscape, but do it from the perspective of a whale (say). Use sound production to give us a sense of what it's like to experience the world through a whale's ears.

Kenny

Sent from my iPhone

On 30 Sep 2011, at 08:39

Hi kenny i think i have come up wit a challenging but achievable project aim but i would like your input on my idea which is 

: Project Aim: To invesigate how using sonar sound gives an accurate distance reading and what affects will using sonar have on marine life. 

Thanks

Craig

Potential Contacts

http://www.sls.hw.ac.uk/staff-directory/marine-science.htm

http://www.ecmb.org/

Networking

I have just sent an email to Deep Sea World in Edinburgh to see if they could provide me with any information to do with sonar sound on the subject of  how it works and its affects to the marine life.

http://www.deepseaworld.com/misc/contact_us

AG1086A Concept Development: Sonar Information

Numbers on the website range from 36 – 40

How far away can you hear other ships?

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Submarines use large underwater listening devices called "sonar" to navigate and detect other objects underwater. Submarine sonar is affected by weather, water temperature, biologics, and other natural conditions. A submarine can often hear a ship miles away.


How does sonar work?

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Sonar (SOund NAvigation and Ranging) gives our submarines virtual "eyes" underwater. Sonar is used primarily to detect ships and submarines. There are two types of sonar: active and passive. When using active sonar, a submarine transmits a pulse of sound into the water and listens for how long it takes to bounce off another object such as a ship or submarine and return. This gives information about that ship or submarine's direction and distance away. Unfortunately, if a submarine uses active sonar, all the other sonar-capable ships and submarines in the area would know that the submarine is there. Since the primary advantage that submarines enjoy is stealth (other ships don't know where they are), most submarines rarely use active sonar. Passive sonar listens for the sounds coming from other ships and submarines. When a submarine uses passive sonar, it is able to obtain information about other ships and submarines without revealing its own position. Like detectives examining a crime scene, skilled sonar operators can determine such things as ship speed, number of propellers and even the exact kind of ship just by listening to the sounds.


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What does sonar sound like?

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Active sonar makes sounds much like the "pings" you've probably heard on TV shows and in movies. Submarines usually don't use active sonar because after the first ping, the submarine is no longer covert. Instead, they use passive sonar. Passive sonar listens only and puts no noise in the water.


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Does active or passive sonar affect the marine environment?

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Navy sonar has little or no effect on marine life. Active sonar is like the echolocator used by some deep diving whales to hunt for prey. Passive sonar hasno effecton marine life.


Can you hear whales, porpoises, and other sea animals?

Yes. Advanced sonar systems are designed to listen for man-made noises from other ships and submarines, but they can also hear the many natural sounds of the ocean including whales, porpoises, and shrimp. It is really very noisy underwater if you have the right equipment to listen carefully. Our sonar technicians are proficient at identifying the many different sounds underwater including sea life or biologics.



U.S. Navy Submarines Lost,2011[Online] Available at<http://usmilitary.about.com/od/navy/l/blsubfaq.htm>[Accessed 26/9/2011]

AG1086A Concept Development: Sonar Images Part 2

I used this picture to indicate my first ideas for my honours project .                                                                

http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/alligator/mtools.html

With this picture it shows a little more in depht of how sonar works.                                                         

http://www.dosits.org/science/advancedtopics/sonarequation/

AG1086A Concept Development: Sonar images

In this picture indicates the directions that detail how sonar travels and what happens when it hit an object. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sonar_Principle_EN.svg 

When i seen this picture is 

pushed me more in the direction of what i wanted my project to be.              

http://www.uphaa.com/blog/index.php/tag/real-superpower/

Possible Research Question

1. How can sonar sound give an accurate distance measurement ?


2. What affects dose sonar have on the environment and its animals ?


3. How much more affective is a scene from a movie when sound is added to it ?


More to come...........