有关圈养鲸鱼的信息有助于野生逆戟鲸的生存

 

The endangered killer¹ whales of the Pacific Ocean have very different lives from orcas in captivity².

These wild animals live along the coast of western North America, in an area called the Pacific Northwest.

The wild orca swim up to 160 kilometers a day looking for fish like salmon³. People sailing on Washington state ferries and small boats enjoy watching the whales' playful splashing. The animals appear to jump out of the ocean for brief periods, and strike the water with their tails and fins⁵.

?In comparison, the captive whales are fed a diet of small fish and vitamins. People pay to see them put on a show at SeaWorld theme parks in the United States.

But the captive whales are helping⁶ researchers trying to save the wild whales in the Pacific Northwest.

Information from 20 years of tests

SeaWorld keeps orcas at its parks in California, Texas and Florida. Recently, SeaWorld published information from thousands of routine blood tests of its killer whales. The tests were taken over the past 20 years. They provide the best picture yet of what a healthy whale looks like. The information could help scientists understand when they should act to help sick or stranded⁷ whales in the wild.

Deborah Fauquier is a medical officer at the National Marine⁸ Fisheries Service. She specializes in caring for animals.

Fauqier says the information from theme parks is very useful because it is almost impossible to get blood from wild orcas.

“For us, collecting blood from free-ranging killer whales is exceedingly difficult, so it’s something we would rarely ever do,” she said.

In the 1960s and 1970s, crews captured wild orcas for display at SeaWorld’s theme parks. The move was terrible for the Pacific Northwest’s native whale population.

The Center for Whale Research on Washington’s San Juan Island reports that at least 13 whales were killed. Forty-five others survived and were kept to entertain paying crowds around the world. Today only one of those orcas is alive: Lolita, at the Miami Seaquarium.

Washington’s state government took SeaWorld to court to stop the whale hunts. Today, 17 of SeaWorld’s 20 orcas were born in captivity. Some came from animals captured near Iceland.

SeaWorld has not captured a wild orca in more than 40 years. Public pressure made the business end its captive breeding program in 2016. Now instead of trained orca shows, it has “more educational experiences where guests can still enjoy and marvel¹⁰ at the majesty¹¹ and power of the whales.”

It took years for wild orcas in the Northwest to recover from the hunts. These creatures have a name: southern resident killer whales. They spend several months every summer and autumn in the ocean waters between Washington and Canada. By the middle of the 1990s, their population reached 98.

New threats

Today, the orcas are struggling against different threats. Those problems include ocean pollution, ship noise and, most seriously, starvation from a lack of Chinook salmon, their favorite food. There are just 75 left, and researchers say they are almost extinct.

Washington’s governor, Jay Inslee, has proposed spending $1.1 billion to help the whales. Much of the money would go toward protecting and restoring the areas where salmon live.

The National Marine Fisheries Service, also known as NOAA Fisheries, wants to expand the protected areas where the whales eat.

SeaWorld has increased its efforts to help the southern resident orcas. It also has promised to give $10 million to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Killer Whale Research and Conservation Program.

Todd Robeck is SeaWorld’s vice⁹ president of conservation research. He told the Associated Press: “Our stance is to do research with our animals to try to help this population now, and that’s what we’re doing. That’s why I got into what I do — to try to help animals in the wild.”

Blood tests for Orcas

Robeck helped prepare a report on SeaWorld’s data, which included results of more than 2,800 blood tests on 32 whales from 1993 to 2013. The whales were trained to hold up the underside of their tails for the blood draws, which were taken once or twice a month. A number of blood values were measured.

The results show that most of the values are not very different between male and female whales, but they do differ with age and season, Robeck said. The study suggests that orcas lose some ability to fight infection and disease as they age.

“It’s something that could only be done with our animals,” Robeck said. “It’s an example of how we are dedicated¹² to participating in the well-being¹³ of killer whales in the Pacific Northwest and around the world, and how research with our animals is vital in answering some of these questions about how to address the needs of the animals in the wild.”

I’m Jill Robbins.

Words in This Story

tail – n. the back end or bottom of an animal

fin⁴ – n. a flatted body part of a fish or sea creature

theme park – n. an area with a central, unifying¹⁴ idea or setting

stranded - adj. to cause something to become stuck or trapped on land — usually used as (be) stranded

entertain – v. to provide enjoyment¹⁵; to interest or please

majesty - n. a great and beautiful quality

extinct - adj. no longer existing

restore – v. to bring back; to return to a former condition

stance - n. a publicly stated opinion

draw - n. to get something from something else

1 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

2 captivity   

n.囚禁；被俘；束缚

参考例句：

• A zoo is a place where live animals are kept in captivity for the public to see.动物园是圈养动物以供公众观看的场所。
• He was held in captivity for three years.他被囚禁叁年。

3 salmon   

n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的

参考例句：

• We saw a salmon jumping in the waterfall there.我们看见一条大马哈鱼在那边瀑布中跳跃。
• Do you have any fresh salmon in at the moment?现在有新鲜大马哈鱼卖吗？

4 fin   

n.鳍；(飞机的)安定翼

参考例句：

• They swim using a small fin on their back.它们用背上的小鳍游动。
• The aircraft has a long tail fin.那架飞机有一个长长的尾翼。

5 fins   

[医]散热片；鱼鳍；飞边；鸭掌

参考例句：

• The level of TNF-α positively correlated with BMI,FPG,HbA1C,TG,FINS and IRI,but not with SBP and DBP. TNF-α水平与BMI、FPG、HbA1C、TG、FINS和IRI呈显著正相关，与SBP、DBP无相关。 来自互联网
• Fins are a feature specific to fish. 鱼鳍是鱼类特有的特征。 来自辞典例句

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

7 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

8 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

9 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

10 marvel   

vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事

参考例句：

• The robot is a marvel of modern engineering.机器人是现代工程技术的奇迹。
• The operation was a marvel of medical skill.这次手术是医术上的一个奇迹。

11 majesty   

n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权

参考例句：

• The king had unspeakable majesty.国王有无法形容的威严。
• Your Majesty must make up your mind quickly!尊贵的陛下，您必须赶快做出决定！

12 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

13 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。

14 unifying   

使联合( unify的现在分词 )； 使相同； 使一致； 统一

参考例句：

• In addition, there were certain religious bonds of a unifying kind. 此外，他们还有某种具有一种统一性质的宗教上的结合。
• There is a unifying theme, and that is the theme of information flow within biological systems. 我们可以用一个总的命题，把生物学系统内的信息流来作为这一研究主题。

15 enjoyment   

n.乐趣；享有；享用

参考例句：

• Your company adds to the enjoyment of our visit. 有您的陪同，我们这次访问更加愉快了。
• After each joke the old man cackled his enjoyment.每逢讲完一个笑话，这老人就呵呵笑着表示他的高兴。