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蓝鲸歌声的声调发生变化
This is Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Christopher Intagliata.
Blue whales are the largest animals ever to exist on Earth. But they're still tough to track. Because they live underwater where we can't easily see them — and often in remote areas, like the southern ocean. But the whales' songs can travel hundreds of kilometers underwater... so scientists often listen for them instead. (blue whale call) By the way, that's sped up 10 times so you can hear it.
Over the years these eavesdropping1 biologists have noticed a mysterious trend: that certain blue whale calls are gradually lowering in pitch, over time. For example, here's a call from 2002, followed by one from 2017. (2002–2017 call)
"It has been observed in blue whale populations worldwide. So this phenomenon has to have a worldwide explanation." Emmanuelle Leroy is a bioacoustician at the University of New South Wales in Australia. She did the work at the University of Brest in France.
Her team confirmed the phenomenon holds true for populations of blue whales in the southern Indian Ocean, too. And they suggest one reason may be that whale numbers have rebounded3 from the days of Captain Ahab. More whales means individuals don't have to shout as loud to be heard by other whales. And because of an anatomical peculiarity4 in the way whales sing, the softer they sing, the lower the pitch.
The scientists have another theory, too, which may be acting5 i?n concert with the first: which is that whales are singing more softly—and therefore more deeply—because increasingly acidic ocean waters carry their calls farther. The full write-up is in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans.
Leroy and her team noticed one other short-term trend: that southern blue whales' songs actually get higher in pitch during the Austral summer. Perhaps in an effort to be heard over cracking icebergs7.
"Like when you put an ice cube in your drink, you can hear it crack. So it's the same for an iceberg6 — so it will be really loud and you can hear it across an oceanic basin."
To solve these mysteries more definitively8, the scientists say that we'll need to keep listening, and monitor the changing chemical and acoustic2 properties of the oceans. To see which of these ideas are borne out. And which don't hold water.
Thanks for listening for Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Christopher Intagliata.
1 eavesdropping | |
n. 偷听 | |
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2 acoustic | |
adj.听觉的,声音的;(乐器)原声的 | |
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3 rebounded | |
弹回( rebound的过去式和过去分词 ); 反弹; 产生反作用; 未能奏效 | |
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4 peculiarity | |
n.独特性,特色;特殊的东西;怪癖 | |
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5 acting | |
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的 | |
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6 iceberg | |
n.冰山,流冰,冷冰冰的人 | |
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7 icebergs | |
n.冰山,流冰( iceberg的名词复数 ) | |
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8 definitively | |
adv.决定性地,最后地 | |
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