Natural Sonar Technology, the Mystery Behind How Bats Fly at Night

Illustration of how bats fly at night (unsplash)

YOGYAKARTA - Many ask, how do bats fly at night without any light? The answer is in an amazing biological navigation system, namely echolocation or natural sonar.

In fact, bats are not blind fliers. Instead, they are expert pilots who make use of sound. This phenomenon allows them to move, hunt, and avoid obstacles with high precision.

Disarikan dari laman Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust dan The Library of Congress, berikut ini VOI sajikan beberapa fakta menarik seputar kelelawar yang jarang diketahui:

Why Are Bats Dominant at Night?

You need to know first that bats are nocturnal animals. They are active flying and looking for food (like insects) at night. Therefore, they need a safe shelter to sleep during the day.

Caves, bridges, and trees provide the perfect places for bats to hang out and hide. The upside-down hanging bats are ready to take off without a hitch.

The question is, how do bats operate in total darkness? Bats have developed an evolutionary solution that is far more sophisticated than vision, namely echolocation.

How Do Bats Fly at Night?

Echolocation is a sound-based navigation system that allows bats to orient themselves, find food, and avoid collisions. In principle, this mechanism is similar to the sonar technology used in human-made submarines.

Interestingly, bats have the ability to produce and hear sounds with very high frequencies, called ultrasonic sounds, which cannot be heard by the human ear.

Ultrasonic sound waves are emitted by bats which usually go through the mouth or nose and then bounce (produce echoes) back after hitting surrounding objects.

Bats then capture and process these echoes. From the delay time and intensity of the echoes, bats can accurately assess the size, distance, direction, and speed of the object.

Interestingly, each bat has a unique sound and recognizes the reflection of its personal echo to avoid confusion.

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Navigation Precision: Bat Brain as a Data Processor

When the bats focus on their sonar signals, they can navigate without hitting anything. The system is designed to detect very small prey, even insects less than a centimeter in diameter can be targeted!

Although often misunderstood as being blind, bats can see. However, at night, their sense of hearing and their echolocation system are much more dominant and important than vision.

"Andrea Doria Effect" Exception Moment

Interestingly, there is one unique situation where bats ignore their personal navigation. When flying in a large cave with millions of other bats before a night departure, the noise chaos becomes very intense. For a while, they will turn off their echolocation hearing focus.

This is the reason why an expert, Dr. Donald R. Griffin, calls it the "Andrea Doria Effect," because if you suddenly appear in the middle of the crowd, the bats may hit you.

However, this phenomenon is only an anomaly in the cave. When outside, the possibility of bats hitting humans is very small.

Inspiring the Military World through Sonar and Radar Technology

Bat systems are a testament to the sophistication of natural technology. Their ability to detect and distinguish between moving objects and stationary objects, even as small as insects, has inspired scientists and engineers.

Bat technology helps in the development of sonar systems used to detect objects underwater and radar systems used for air tracking.

So, the secret of how bats fly at night is through evolutionary adaptations that produce the most sophisticated biological sonar system in nature. They not only fly, they also map the world around them using sound.