Target detection in reverberation by an echolocating Atlantic bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)

An experiment was conducted to determine the ability of an echolocating Atlantic bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) to detect targets in the presence of reverberation. Reverberation was induced by a clutter screen consisting of forty-eight 5.1-cm-diam cork spheres spaced 15.2 cm apart and arranged in a rectangular array, located behind the targets. Hollow aluminum cylinders having the same outer diameter and wall thickness and three different lengths were used as targets. The dolphin was trained to station in a hoop, 6 m from the targets, and to echolocate the target upon the reception of an audio cue. Only one of the targets would be presented in a target-present trial. Data were collected on the animal's detection performance as a function of the separation distance between the clutter screen and the targets. The animal's performance for the smallest cylinder varied from 91% to 55% correct as the separation distance decreased from 10.2 to 0 cm. The target strength of the clutter screen and the cylinders were measured both in terms of the energies and the maximum peak-to-peak amplitudes of the incident and reflected echoes. These measurements indicated that when the target-clutter screen separation distance was 0 cm, the dolphin's 50% correct detection occurred at an energy echo-to-reverberation ratio of approximately 0.25 dB and at peak-to-peak echo-to-reverberation ratio of 2.6 dB. The results also indicated that the dolphin's performance varied almost linearly with the echo-to-reverberation ratio. The animal's pulse emissions were monitored by a microprocessor system and the results are presented in terms of the average number of clicks and the average response latency, as a function of the separation distance.