1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey 2 00:00:06,440 --> 00:00:09,480 Speaker 1: brain Stuff, I'm Lauren Bomb and this this is a 3 00:00:09,520 --> 00:00:12,600 Speaker 1: classic episode from our archives, and this one we talk 4 00:00:12,640 --> 00:00:16,680 Speaker 1: about how echolocation works and what animals do it best. 5 00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:22,320 Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Vogel Bomb. Here, take a second 6 00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:25,079 Speaker 1: to think about a nar wall. It's a whale with 7 00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:28,440 Speaker 1: a unicorn horn of fairytale animal right, so it may 8 00:00:28,480 --> 00:00:31,200 Speaker 1: come as no surprise that this improbable animal of the 9 00:00:31,240 --> 00:00:35,800 Speaker 1: North Seas has actual superpowers. The nar walls spiral horn 10 00:00:35,920 --> 00:00:39,279 Speaker 1: isn't just decorative. It's actually a modified tooth that can 11 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:41,680 Speaker 1: grow to lengths of up to nine feet that's about 12 00:00:41,720 --> 00:00:46,040 Speaker 1: three meters. These tusks contain around ten million nerve endings. 13 00:00:46,479 --> 00:00:48,840 Speaker 1: Some nar walls have two tusks, while others have none, 14 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:51,760 Speaker 1: and they use them for a variety of purposes, like 15 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:55,760 Speaker 1: testing the chemical concentrations in seawater. The males use their 16 00:00:55,760 --> 00:00:58,520 Speaker 1: tusks to advertise the size of their testicles to females, 17 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:00,360 Speaker 1: and it would be a shame if they did fight 18 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:04,240 Speaker 1: using them like fencing foils, which don't worry, they totally do. 19 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:07,440 Speaker 1: But a study published in the journal p l Os 20 00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:10,480 Speaker 1: one finds the narwhall in possession of the most powerful 21 00:01:10,520 --> 00:01:14,800 Speaker 1: directional sonar of any animal on Earth. Because, of course, 22 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:18,280 Speaker 1: lots of marine mammals use echolocation to find their way 23 00:01:18,319 --> 00:01:21,360 Speaker 1: around in the ocean's murky depths, but this ability to 24 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:23,920 Speaker 1: use sonar to determine where objects are in space is 25 00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:27,759 Speaker 1: especially crucial for narwhals. They're deep divers and just one 26 00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:30,560 Speaker 1: of two species of toothed whales who live year round 27 00:01:30,600 --> 00:01:33,399 Speaker 1: in the Arctic Circle off the coast of Canada. In Greenland. 28 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:36,920 Speaker 1: The seas are most often completely covered in ice, and 29 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:39,360 Speaker 1: narwhales live in complete darkness for much of the year. 30 00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:41,720 Speaker 1: Since the narwhale has to come up to the surface 31 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:43,759 Speaker 1: of the water for air every five minutes or so, 32 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:46,679 Speaker 1: they have to be able to precisely and quickly detect 33 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:49,080 Speaker 1: small holes and cracks in the ice through which to 34 00:01:49,120 --> 00:01:53,080 Speaker 1: grab quick gulps of air. Dr Kristen Latter, an ecologist 35 00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:55,640 Speaker 1: at the University of Washington, told The New York Times, 36 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:58,480 Speaker 1: you don't see open water for miles and miles, and 37 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:00,920 Speaker 1: suddenly there's a small crack and you'll see nar walls 38 00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:04,000 Speaker 1: in it. I've always wondered, how do these animals navigate 39 00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:06,480 Speaker 1: under that, and how do they find these small openings 40 00:02:06,480 --> 00:02:09,600 Speaker 1: to breathe. To find out, she and her research team 41 00:02:09,639 --> 00:02:12,960 Speaker 1: placed microphones under the water around ice packs in Baffin Bay. 42 00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:15,639 Speaker 1: That's off the southern coast of Greenland and happens to 43 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:18,800 Speaker 1: be where of the world narwhal's spend their winter. The 44 00:02:18,840 --> 00:02:22,520 Speaker 1: team then listened for the telltale sound of echolocating clicks. 45 00:02:22,919 --> 00:02:25,560 Speaker 1: They discovered that not only do nar whales produce them 46 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:27,520 Speaker 1: at a rate of up to one thousand clicks per 47 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:30,240 Speaker 1: second and receive the echoes back on pads and their 48 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:33,799 Speaker 1: lower jaws, they can also direct them with incredible accuracy, 49 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:37,200 Speaker 1: like the narrow beam of an adjustable flashlight. According to 50 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:40,320 Speaker 1: the researchers, it's the most precise directional beam of all 51 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:45,919 Speaker 1: animal echolocators. Other whales broadcast their echolocating sounds in all directions, 52 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:48,960 Speaker 1: which is useful for receiving data back from great distances, 53 00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:51,679 Speaker 1: and it turns out narwhals can do that too. Other 54 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:55,600 Speaker 1: animals like bats also use echolocation, but the narwhal's ability 55 00:02:55,680 --> 00:03:00,160 Speaker 1: to focus its clicks bests them all. When narwhal's track prey, 56 00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:02,679 Speaker 1: the study shows they can widen the sonar beam to 57 00:03:02,720 --> 00:03:04,960 Speaker 1: take in a larger area In this way, they can 58 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:07,480 Speaker 1: get a sense of their surroundings with more accuracy than 59 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:11,280 Speaker 1: any other echolocating animal on the planet. Let this be 60 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:13,960 Speaker 1: a lesson to us all, then, just because an animal 61 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:23,120 Speaker 1: seems mythologically amazing, that doesn't mean that it isn't. Today's 62 00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:25,480 Speaker 1: episode was written by Jesselyin Shields and produced by Tristan 63 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:28,200 Speaker 1: McNeil and Tyler Clang. For more on this lots of 64 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:31,080 Speaker 1: other topics, visit how stuff works dot com. Brain Stuff 65 00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:33,440 Speaker 1: is production of my heart Radio. For more podcasts my 66 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:36,200 Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit thing i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 67 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:38,080 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.