Hydrophone: an instrument for detecting and measuring the intensity of sound transmitted through water. Hydrophones are devices that are similar to microphones except they operate in water instead of air; so you could call them underwater microphones. They measure underwater sound such as that created by whales, dolphins, or even shrimp. They are also useful for underwater noise analysis and have industrial applications, such as monitoring pile driver noise or measuring the underwater sound pressure level created by air gun arrays. For more, see: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrophone.
Acoustics: having to do with hearing or with sound as it is heard. For more, see: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustics
Cetacean: any of the nearly hairless, fish-like water mammals such as whales, dolphins, and porpoises. For more, see: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cetacean.
The text for this page is being developed. In the interim, please see
- NOAA's Acoustic Monitoring Program: Underwater Acoustics Tutorial: more
- American Cetacean Society Sound Education Primer: more
- Taking a picture of underwater sounds, or "How do I take a good underwater recording of whales and dolphins understanding what I am doing" from CIBRA (PDF): more
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If you are interested in additional information about sound and how it works, particularly underwater, please see our list of links and recommended reading list. Both pages contain sets of carefully selected references for your convenience.
If you would like to hear some examples of the events and sounds which can be detected by Cetacean Research™ hydrophones, please browse the pages in our sample sounds section.
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Underwater and Bioacoustics Instrumentation & Consultation
