PBS高端访谈:无人机改变我们对座头鲸的研究方法（在线收听）

JUDY WOODRUFF: And finally, to our "NewsHour" Shares, something of interest that caught our eye. Humpback whales have fascinated scientists for years. But as the "NewsHour"'s Julia Griffin reports, new, high-flying technology is helping researchers better understand the behavior of these elusive predators.

JULIA GRIFFIN: Gliding above Antarctica icebergs, this drone footage looks like something out of a nature documentary. But for marine ecologist Dave Johnston, the drone itself is a cutting edge tool for ocean science.

DAVE JOHNSTON, Marine Ecologist, Duke University: Drones are a technology that's really changing how we study a lot of things in marine environments.

JULIA GRIFFIN: Johnston leads Duke University's Marine Robotics and Remote Sensing Lab. The group uses fixed-wing and multi-rotor drones to study animal behavior and populations from above. It's a safer, cheaper and more precise method than the helicopters and planes traditionally used for aerial surveys.

DAVE JOHNSTON: If we're out here and we're cruising along on our ship and we see a group of whales, we can launch the small boat, we can be there within minutes to be able to take advantage of that particular instance. That's totally revolutionary for our work.

JULIA GRIFFIN: The boats Johnston has been on lately have been floating near the Western Antarctic Peninsula. In the Southern Hemisphere summer, it's a great place for observing bubble net feeding, the unique way humpback whales feed on patches of krill. The gentle giants work together to surround the tiny crustaceans with an ever-tightening spiral of bubbles. Their prey concentrated, the whales lunge upward with open mouths.

DAVE JOHNSTON: Imagine if your mouth went from your chin all the way to your belly button. That's pretty much the way it is for these whales. They engulf this very huge volume of water, squeeze the water out, and the baleen that's in their mouth keeps the krill inside, kind of like a filter.

JULIA GRIFFIN: The team's work marks the first time drones have been used to capture bubble net feeding for research purposes. The technology not only captures the feeding itself in ultra-H.D., but allows scientists to quantify the temperature and size of the humpback whales.

DAVE JOHNSTON: It hasn't been since commercial whaling that we have really been able to measure them and estimate their mass. So, drones are a really incredible, noninvasive way to collect data that's actually really important.

JULIA GRIFFIN: That data will help scientists understand the role of humpback whales in the Antarctic ecosystem as it reacts to climate change. For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Julia Griffin.

JUDY WOODRUFF: What remarkable video.

朱迪·伍德拉夫：最后，来到我们《新闻一小时》的分享环节，有些东西引起了我们的注意。座头鲸多年来一直吸引着科学家们的研究。但正如《新闻一小时》记者朱丽亚·格里芬所报道，高空飞行技术正在帮助研究者们更好地理解这些捕食者们的行为，它们是那么令人难以捉摸。

朱丽亚·格里芬：在南极洲冰山苍穹之上滑翔，这架无人机的足迹看起来就像是一部自然纪录片。但对于海洋生态学家戴夫·约翰斯顿来说，无人机本身就是一种研究海洋科学的尖端工具。

戴夫·约翰斯顿，海洋生态学家，杜克大学：无人机这种技术，真正在改变我们进行海洋环境研究的方式。

朱丽亚·格里芬：约翰斯顿是杜克大学海洋机器人及遥感实验室的负责人。该研究团队使用固定翼及多旋翼无人机从空中对动物行为及种群进行研究。相比传统用于航空勘测的直升机和飞机而言，无人机更安全、更经济、更精确。

戴夫·约翰斯顿：如果我们在这里，在船上进行巡航，而这时我们发现了鲸鱼群，我们可以派出小船，几分钟内就可以到达那里，对鱼群进行研究。这对我们的工作来说完全是革命性的改变。

朱丽亚·格里芬：约翰斯顿的船最近一直在南极半岛西部附近巡航。在南半球的夏季，这里非常适合对气泡网捕猎行为进行观察，这是座头鲸捕食磷虾的特有方式。这些温和的巨兽们协同作业，对这些微型甲壳纲动物四面包抄，形成一个不断向内缩紧的气泡螺旋。它们将猎物集中起来，然后张开大嘴向上猛扑。

戴夫·约翰斯顿：想象一下，如果你的嘴，能有从你下巴一直到肚脐那么大。这正是这些鲸鱼的进食方式。它们吞入大量的水，然后将水挤压出来，鲸须帮助它们将磷虾留在口中，有点像过滤器。

朱丽亚·格里芬：该团队的工作标志着无人机首次被用来捕捉气泡网捕猎活动，以供科学研究。这项技术不仅仅以超高频对捕猎活动本身进行了捕捉，而且还使得科学家们能够对座头鲸的体温及大小进行量化。

戴夫·约翰斯顿：直到商业捕鲸活动展开，我们才有能力对它们进行测量，估计它们的体重。因此，无人机非常不可思议，它为我们提供了一种无创进行数据收集的方法。

朱丽亚·格里芬：这些数据将根据它们对气候变化的反应，帮助科学家们了解座头鲸在南极气候系统中的作用。《PBS新闻一小时》，我是朱丽亚·格里芬。

朱迪·伍德拉夫：非同凡响。