Why are marine creatures able to hear sounds below the lower limit of human hearing?

Mondo Science Updated on 2024-01-31

Marine organisms are often able to hear sounds below the lower limit of human hearing, which is related to their physiology and living environment. Here are some explanations:

1.Water conducts sound: Water is a better medium of sound conduction, as water is denser than air, and sound travels faster and farther in water. As a result, creatures in the water are able to perceive distant sounds, even at lower frequencies.

2.Biological Adaptation: The auditory system of marine organisms has evolved to adapt to the acoustic environment in the water. Their auditory organs, such as the cochlea and ossicles, may be more sensitive to low-frequency sounds in the water. This allows them to perceive the sounds of other creatures, including sounds from a distance, the chirpings of other creatures, or sounds produced during migration.

3.Survival needs: In the marine environment, many organisms rely on sound to reproduce, find mates, track prey, avoid predators, etc. Low-frequency sounds can penetrate longer distances in the water, so they are an important source of information for marine life to survive and thrive.

4.Long-distance communication: Some sea creatures, such as whales and dolphins, use low-frequency sounds to communicate over long distances. The sounds they make are able to travel long distances in the water, helping them find companions in the sea, transmit messages, and locate prey.

Overall, the auditory systems of marine organisms have developed adaptations to the sound environment in the water, allowing them to hear sounds at lower frequencies than humans. These sounds play an important role in their survival and reproduction in the marine environment.

The auditory systems of marine and terrestrial organisms adapt to the environment in which they live, and there are significant differences in the way sound is transmitted between the two environments, which explains the difference in their hearing frequency ranges.

Life in the ocean:

1.Water conductivity: Water is a better sound conduction medium because it is denser than air. Sound waves are able to travel at higher speeds as they travel through water, and low-frequency sound can penetrate water for greater distances. As a result, marine organisms are more likely to perceive low-frequency sounds, which are important for activities such as long-distance communication, hunting, and breeding in the water.

2.Survival needs: Marine life usually survives in the depths of the ocean, and low-frequency sound travels more easily in these deep-water environments. Some marine mammals, such as whales and dolphins, use low-frequency sounds to communicate over long distances, locate prey, and reproduce.

Life on land:

1.Air conducts sound: Air is a relatively poor sound conduction medium, sound waves travel slower in the air, while high-frequency sound is better able to penetrate the atmosphere. Creatures on land often rely on airborne sounds to communicate, perceive their environment, and hunt for prey.

2.Habitat: Creatures on land walk on the ground, trees, and other structures, and they need to sense ground vibrations, the movement of other animals, and surrounding sounds, and this information is often contained in relatively high-frequency sounds.

Overall, organisms in the sea and on land have evolved to adapt to their respective habitats, resulting in different adaptations of their auditory systems to sounds in different frequency ranges. This adaptability helps them survive and thrive more efficiently in their respective ecosystems.

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