Elephant Infrasound Elephant families separated by large distances can keep track of each other using sounds that are inaudible to human ears. What you're about to hear is a sped-up recording of infrasonic elephant communication. Because of the way sound travels through the atmosphere, infrasound can travel much further than high-frequency sound.
Infrasonic calls enable male elephants to find fertile females.
And elephant families who are foraging several kilometers apart use infrasonic calls to coordinate their patterns of movement. In the middle of the night, its range might be even greater. And elephants aren't the only animals to use infrasound. That's our show for today. With thanks to The National Science Foundation, we're Block and Byrd for Earth and Sky.