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How do toothed whales use sound to find prey?

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Illustration showing various cetaceans, including baleen whales like the blue whale, fin whale, humpback whale, gray whale, sei whale, northern right whale, and bowhead whale, as well as toothed whales such as the sperm whale, narwhal, beluga, Baird's beaked whale, killer whale, dolphins, and porpoises. Each species is labeled with its scientific name and typical or maximum length, with a size scale in the corner for reference. — cetacean Whales (order Cetacea).

Toothed whales use a process called echolocation to locate prey by emitting and interpreting sound waves.12

The mechanism functions as follows:

Sound Production: Toothed whales generate high-frequency clicking sounds—ranging from 5 to 150 kilohertz—by blowing air through specialized tissues called phonic lips located in their nasal passages beneath the blowhole.3
Projection: These clicks pass through the melon, a fatty organ in the forehead that focuses and projects the sound waves into the water.34
Reception: When these sound waves strike an object, such as prey, they bounce back as echoes. These returning vibrations are received by the whale through an "acoustic window" in its lower jaw, which conveys the energy to the inner ear.3

By analyzing these echoes, toothed whales can determine the location and nature of objects in their environment, effectively "seeing" through sound to facilitate food procurement. Some researchers also speculate that these intense vocalizations may be used to overwhelm the senses of their prey.23