Application of the Biosonar Measurement Tool (BMT) and Instrumented Mine Simulators (IMS) to exploration of dolphin echolocation during free-swimming, bottom-object searches

Data have been collected from two dolphins engaged in free-swimming, bottom-object searches in conjuction with the deployment of both the BMT and IMS systems. Preliminary results demonstrate distinctive search strategies between the animals. The instrumentation described herein has been designed to provide quantitative data for free-swimming dolphins conducting mine-hunting tasks. The data allow researchers never before seen insight into what the dolphin actually does when free swimming and hunting for mine shaped targets. The richness of the data is unparalleled and requires continued in-depth analysis. In addition, when researchers have hypotheses on ways to improve mine hunting sonar, developed algorithms can be applied to the BMT and IMS data to demonstrate how the algorithm performs relative to the dolphin.