In a breakthrough in Marine Biology research, we now know how Dolphins see people, and it’s nothing like how we perceive objects. It’s a step forward in the five decade long research into the physiology of cetaceans.

Dolphins use echolocation to ‘see’ what’s ahead of them. They have developed this sense over fifty million years. The process allows them to send out sound waves that hit an object and bounce back vibrations. The mammal can then process it to identity an object’s location, shape and size.

Lead Researcher Jack Kassewitz of SpeakDolphin.com said dolphins might communicate what they see with a pictorial language. If that is true, there’s an exciting future for inter species communication.

This research was conducted at the Dolphin Discovery Center in Puerto Aventuras, Mexico. Researcher Jim McDonough dipped into the pool, right in front of the female dolphin ‘Amaya’. He had worn a weight belt, and exhaled most of the air in his lungs to avoid bubbles from a breathing apparatus as it might distort the image.

As the Dolphin ‘saw’ McDonough, researchers Alex Green and Toni Saul were able to record this signal with high specification audio equipment

This recording was sent to the CymaScope laboratory in the U.K where John Stuart Reid captured the signal on a water membrane and enhanced the resulting image digitally. The signal translated to what seems appears to be the fuzzy silhouette of a man. Turns out researchers picked up one of the signals Amaya had been echolocating from far away.

The research conclusively stated that dolphins can see the full silhouette of an object. McDonough’s weight belt was prominent in the picture, i.e dolphins can see surface features too.

It could be possible that dolphin echolocation signals result in more detailed mental images. However our technology can’t exactly capture what these dolphins can see.
[source: news.discovery.com]

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