Sound is an energy form that propagates better in water, this has allowed evolution to encourage cetaceans to develop a highly varied intra- and interspecific acoustic repertoire. This diversity has led to a captivating working area of processing the signals. For example, the analysis is faced with the challenge of detecting and isolating these signals in such a way that leaves their characteristics intact.

This characteristic information can be found in the time and frequency domains of the same signal, or can appear in much longer sequences. The examination of these parameters can improve our knowledge about the sonar mechanisms of cetaceans, and also lead to other applications, as for example the ability to uniquely identify individuals within a social group.