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LifeScienceInvestor t1_isy72iy wrote

Yes, it's called passive sonar.

Not only that, the US Navy has an array of hydrophones (underwater microphones) across the globe that can not only pinpoint the location of virtually every ship/sub in the world but have developed extraordinarily sophisticated algorithms to decode the unique acoustic signature of every ship. Said another way: all ships emit sound (engine, prop moving through water, etc.) and every ship (even ships made from the same design/blueprint) have enough unique differences that result in slightly different sounds when in operation.

Fun fact: this system has also been used to track whales - groups of whales and individual whales with their unique acoustic ID.

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