Wave propagation in the biosonar organ of sperm whales using a finite difference time domain method

• Main Authors: Ferrari, Maxence, Marxer, Ricard, Asch, Mark, Glotin, Hervé
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: PeerJ 2019
• Subjects: Sperm whale
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.27995v1; https://peerj.com/preprints/27995v1.pdf; https://peerj.com/preprints/27995v1.xml; https://peerj.com/preprints/27995v1.html

The bio-sonar of sperm whales presents many specific characteristics, such as its size, its loudness or its vocalization abilities. Furthermore it fulfills several roles in their foraging and social behaviour. However our knowledge about its operation remains limited to the main acoustic path that the emitted pulse may take. We still ignore the precise mechanisms that shape the wave and on which parts the sperm whale is able to act. In this paper, we describe a technique to simulate sperm whale click generation from a physical perspective. Such an approach aims at unveiling the processes involved in their vocal production, as a stepping stone towards a better understanding of their interaction with peers and the environment.