VOA新闻杂志2022 约230头鲸鱼在澳大利亚搁浅（在线收听）

About 230 whales beached themselves on the western part of the Australian island of Tasmania.

大约230头鲸鱼在澳大利亚塔斯马尼亚岛西部搁浅。

It is the second such incident in recent days.

这是最近几天发生的第二起类似事件。

At least half are alive and animal officials are working to rescue them.

至少有一半鲸鱼还活着，动物官员正在努力营救它们。

They are also trying to understand why the whales got stuck.

他们还试图了解鲸鱼被困在那里的原因。

The whales are stuck on Ocean Beach near Macquarie Harbor in the western part of Tasmania.

鲸鱼被困在塔斯马尼亚西部麦夸里港附近的海滩上。

Exactly two years ago, 470 whales became stuck on sand in the same area.

就在两年前，470头鲸鱼被困在同一片区域的沙滩上。

That time, about 100 whales were saved but the rest died.

当时，大约有100头鲸鱼获救，但其余的都死了。

The whales are pilot whales, which weigh between 1,000 and 2,000 kilograms and measure over 6 meters.

这些鲸鱼是领航鲸，体重在1000到2000公斤之间，体长超过6米。

The International Whaling Commission says pilot whales are the species that most often is beached in large numbers.

国际捕鲸协会表示，领航鲸是最经常被大量搁浅的物种。

Some scientists believe it is because they travel in large groups and follow a leader.

一些科学家认为，这是因为它们成群结队地跟随领头的鲸鱼一起游。

Tasmania’s Department of Natural Resources said a team from the Marine Conservation Program was heading to the area to help the whales.

塔斯马尼亚州自然资源部表示，海洋保护项目的一个小组正前往该地区帮助鲸鱼。

The harbor does not have deep water and its entrance is known by locals as Hell’s Gate.

这个港口没有深水区，它的入口被当地人称为地狱之门。

Linton Kringle is a salmon farmer who helped with the rescue in 2020.

林顿·克林格尔是一名鲑鱼养殖户，他在2020年参与了救援行动。

He told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation this year’s work would be more difficult.

他告诉澳大利亚广播公司，今年的工作将会更加困难。

That time, he said, the whales were in the harbor so people could reach them easily on boats.

他说，当时鲸鱼在港口，所以人们可以很容易地乘船找到它们。

This time, they are outside of the safe area, on a beach, which means it will be harder to get boats near them.

这一次，他们在安全区域外的海滩上，这意味着船只更难靠近它们。

“It’s too shallow, way too rough. My thoughts would be try to get them onto a vehicle if we can’t swim them out,” Kringle added.

克林格尔补充道：“这太浅了，太难了。我认为如果我们不能让它们游出来，就试着把它们装到一辆车上。”

Vanessa Pirotta is a wildlife scientist who studies animals like whales and dolphins.

瓦内萨·皮罗塔是一位研究鲸鱼和海豚等动物的野生动物科学家。

She said the fact that the whales have gotten stuck around the same place during the same part of the year suggests “there might be something environmental here.”

她说，鲸鱼在一年中的同一时间被困在同一个地方的事实表明“这里可能有一些环境因素。”

There was another incident of whales getting stuck in Tasmania on Monday.

周一，塔斯马尼亚州又发生了一起鲸鱼被困事件。

In the northern part of the island state, 14 sperm whales were found on King Island.

在这个岛州的北部，在国王岛上发现了14头抹香鲸。

One scientist called that incident even more unusual than the pilot whales getting stuck.

一位科学家称，这一事件比领航鲸被困更不寻常。

Olaf Meynecke is a marine scientist at Griffith University in Australia.

奥拉夫·迈内克是澳大利亚格里菲斯大学的海洋科学家。

He said warmer ocean temperatures could be forcing the whales into different areas to look for food.

他说，海洋温度升高可能会迫使鲸鱼到不同的区域寻找食物。

“When they do this, they are not in the best physical condition because they might be starving, so this can lead them to take more risks and maybe go closer to shore,” Meynecke said.

迈内克说：“当它们这样做的时候，它们的身体并不处于最佳状态，因为它们可能会挨饿，所以这可能会导致它们冒更多的风险，因而可能会更靠近海岸。”