Echo-location

Echo-location is where an animal such as a bat or dolphin emits a sound. The sound then hits an object and ricochets back. The bat hears it and is able to locate where the echo came from and how close it is. Marine mammals, bats and some birds use echolocation.

 Echo-location is a sound wave emitting from a bat. If something is in the way of the sound wave it would bounce off it and return to the bat/mammal that emitted it. The bat can now determine how big and how far away the object is. The bigger the object the more sound would return from it. The time it takes for the echo to return from the object is how far away the object is.

 Very few people use echolocation. However Ben Underwood, who had eye cancer at the age of 2 has taught himself to use echo-location. He knows his way around the house and can bike or roller-skate around the neighbourhood by making clicks from his mouth and hearing the echo. They even used him for scientific research.

 Echo-location is the way that certain animals use their ears too see, not their eyes.