VOA健康报道2023 北象海豹在海里每天只睡两小时

Sleep is an important biological process for people and animals.

睡眠对人和动物来说都是一个重要的生物过程。

However, much remains¹ unknown about the process.

然而，这一过程仍有许多未知之处。

Humans spend about one third of their lives sleeping.

人类一生中约有三分之一的时间在睡觉。

But some mammals, like the northern elephant seal, survive with much less sleep.

但有些哺乳动物，如北象海豹，睡眠时间要少得多。

Researchers in a new study described the unusual sleep pattern of these ocean animals.

在一项新的研究中，研究人员描述了这些海洋动物不同寻常的睡眠模式。

They found that when these mammals go to feed on trips that can last seven months, they sleep just two hours.

他们发现，这些哺乳动物在长达七个月的觅食过程中只睡两个小时。

Those two hours of sleep are made up of short moments of rest lasting² only 10 minutes each as they dive deep to avoid predators³.

这两个小时的睡眠是由短暂的休息时间组成的，每次休息时间只有10分钟，即在它们潜入深海躲避捕食者的时候。

The only other mammals known to get so little sleep are African elephants.

已知的唯一睡眠时间如此少的哺乳动物是非洲象。

The seals' sleep time during ocean trips is different from the 10 hours a day they spend sleeping on the coast during mating season at places like California's Ano Nuevo beach.

海豹在海上旅行时的睡眠时间与它们在交配季节在加州Ano Nuevo海滩等地的海岸上每天睡10个小时的情况不同。

The researchers placed a head covering with sensors⁴ on the heads of the seals that they studied.

研究人员在他们研究的海豹的头上戴上了带有传感器的头罩。

The sensors recorded sleep signals created by the seals' brains and heart rate.

传感器记录了海豹大脑和心率产生的睡眠信号。

The sensors also recorded the animals' location and depth beneath the sea.

传感器还记录了这些动物在海底的位置和深度。

The researchers studied female seals because they go out on long open-ocean trips while males feed in coastal⁵ waters.

研究人员之所以研究雌性海豹，是因为它们会在开阔的海洋上长途跋涉，而雄性海豹则在沿海水域觅食。

During dives lasting about 30 minutes, the seals went into a deep sleep called slow-wave sleep while keeping a controlled downward movement.

在持续约30分钟的潜水过程中，海豹进入了一种名为慢波睡眠的深度睡眠，同时保持了受控的向下运动。

When they then experienced rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep, a condition where voluntary movement while sleeping stops, the seals fell into a turning pattern.

当它们进入快速眼动睡眠时，海豹会进入一种旋转模式。快速眼动睡眠是一种在睡眠时停止自主运动的状态。

They sometimes ended up without movement on the seafloor.

有时，它们会在海底静止不动。

Jessica Kendall-Bar of the University of California San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography is the lead writer of the study published this week in Science.

加州大学圣地亚哥分校斯克利普斯海洋研究所的杰西卡·肯德尔·巴是本周发表在《科学》杂志上的这项研究的主要作者。

She said, "Then, at the deepest point of their sleeping dive - up to 377 meters deep - they wake up and swim back to the surface."

她说：“然后，在它们沉睡潜水的最深处——深达377米——它们醒来后游回海面。”

The northern elephant seal is the world's second-largest seal.

北象海豹是世界第二大海豹。

Only the southern elephant seal is bigger.

只有南象海豹的体型更大。

Male northern elephant seals may reach four meters long and weigh up to 2,000 kilograms.

雄性北象海豹身长可达4米，体重可达2000公斤。

Females reach about three meters in length and 590 kilograms.

雌性体长约3米，体重590公斤。

The seals eat sea animals like fish and squid.

海豹以鱼和鱿鱼等海洋动物为食。

Even with their large size, predators like sharks and killer⁶ whales are still a threat.

即使它们体型庞大，鲨鱼和虎鲸等捕食者仍然是一个威胁。

Terrie Williams is a scientist at the University of California at Santa Cruz who helped write the study.

特里·威廉姆斯是加州大学圣克鲁兹分校的一名科学家，她帮助撰写了这项研究。

She said, "It is remarkable⁷ that a wild animal will fall into deep, paralytic⁸ REM sleep when there are predators on the hunt."

她说：“当有捕食者在捕猎时，野生动物会陷入深度的快速眼动睡眠，这是引人注目的。”

She added that the seals solve this problem by going into deep sleep in the deep parts of the oceans where predators usually do not hunt them.

她补充说，海豹通过在海洋深处深度睡眠来解决这个问题，因为在那里，捕食者通常不会捕杀海豹。

Williams said the brain's ability to control awakening⁹ the sleeping seals at a depth before they drown is also a discovery about how mammalian brains work.

威廉姆斯说，大脑在沉睡的海豹溺水前控制唤醒它们的能力也是对哺乳动物大脑工作方式的一项发现。

She commented on this saying that it shows the survival¹⁰ control of the seals' brains.

对此，她评价说，这显示了海豹大脑的生存控制能力。

I'm Gregory Stachel.

格雷戈里·施塔赫尔为您播报。

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

3 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 sensors   

n.传感器，灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时，有很大变化。 来自辞典例句

5 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

6 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。

7 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

8 paralytic   

adj. 瘫痪的 n. 瘫痪病人

参考例句：

• She was completely paralytic last night.她昨天晚上喝得酩酊大醉。
• She rose and hobbled to me on her paralytic legs and kissed me.她站起来，拖着她那麻痹的双腿一瘸一拐地走到我身边，吻了吻我。

9 awakening   

n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的

参考例句：

• the awakening of interest in the environment 对环境产生的兴趣
• People are gradually awakening to their rights. 人们正逐渐意识到自己的权利。

10 survival   

n.留住生命，生存，残存，幸存者

参考例句：

• The doctor told my wife I had a fifty-fifty chance of survival.医生告诉我的妻子，说我活下去的可能性只有50%。
• The old man was a survival of a past age.这位老人是上一代的遗老。