美国国家公共电台 NPR Recordings Reveal That Baby Humpback Whales 'Whisper' To Their Mothers

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

We now present an editorial opinion. What this particular day of news really needs is the sound of a humpback whale.

(SOUNDBITE OF HUMPBACK WHALE VOCALIZING)

INSKEEP: That's an adult male humpback whale. Scientists recently recorded sounds of baby whales, which sound very different. NPR's Nell Greenfieldboyce reports.

NELL GREENFIELDBOYCE, BYLINE¹: Cute little baby whales actually aren't so little.

SIMONE VIDESEN: When they're born, these whales are around 5 meters long. Pretty big, considering it's a baby.

GREENFIELDBOYCE: That's Simone Videsen at Aarhus University in Denmark. She says these babies must travel with their mothers thousands of miles during an annual migration² to the food-rich waters of the Antarctic.

VIDESEN: These early life stages of wild whales are, like, so elusive³ because they're an aquatic⁴ animal - right? - so we can't follow them around all the time to see what they're doing.

GREENFIELDBOYCE: She and some colleagues recently tracked eight baby whales using special sound and movement recorders. These recorders had suction cups that let researchers just stick them on to the baby's skin.

VIDESEN: It can stay there for about a day and then it falls off. And then we can recollect⁵ it.

GREENFIELDBOYCE: And what they captured was the babbling⁶ of these baby whales.

(SOUNDBITE OF HUMPBACK WHALE VOCALIZING)

VIDESEN: It's like a squeaky sound. And some of them are really, like, grunting⁷ sounds.

(SOUNDBITE OF HUMPBACK WHALE VOCALIZING)

GREENFIELDBOYCE: And they're very quiet, like the baby humpback is whispering so it won't get overheard by somebody dangerous.

VIDESEN: There are lots of killer⁸ whales in the area which are predating on these calves⁹. And they can use the sounds between mother and calfs as, like, homing cues.

GREENFIELDBOYCE: So why do the babies say anything at all? In the journal Functional¹⁰ Ecology, the researchers report that baby whales mostly whisper when they're swimming. So maybe these intimate sounds help their mothers keep track of them in murky¹¹ waters. Nell Greenfieldboyce, NPR News.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

3 elusive   

adj.难以表达(捉摸)的；令人困惑的；逃避的

参考例句：

• Try to catch the elusive charm of the original in translation.翻译时设法把握住原文中难以捉摸的风韵。
• Interpol have searched all the corners of the earth for the elusive hijackers.国际刑警组织已在世界各地搜查在逃的飞机劫持者。

4 aquatic   

adj.水生的，水栖的

参考例句：

• Aquatic sports include swimming and rowing.水上运动包括游泳和划船。
• We visited an aquatic city in Italy.我们在意大利访问过一个水上城市。

5 recollect   

v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得

参考例句：

• He tried to recollect things and drown himself in them.他极力回想过去的事情而沉浸于回忆之中。
• She could not recollect being there.她回想不起曾经到过那儿。

6 babbling   

n.胡说，婴儿发出的咿哑声adj.胡说的v.喋喋不休( babble的现在分词 )；作潺潺声（如流水）；含糊不清地说话；泄漏秘密

参考例句：

• I could hear the sound of a babbling brook. 我听得见小溪潺潺的流水声。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Infamy was babbling around her in the public market-place. 在公共市场上，她周围泛滥着对她丑行的种种议论。 来自英汉文学 - 红字

7 grunting   

咕哝的，呼噜的

参考例句：

• He pulled harder on the rope, grunting with the effort. 他边用力边哼声，使出更大的力气拉绳子。
• Pigs were grunting and squealing in the yard. 猪在院子里哼哼地叫个不停。

8 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。

9 calves   

n.(calf的复数)笨拙的男子，腓；腿肚子( calf的名词复数 )；牛犊；腓；小腿肚v.生小牛( calve的第三人称单数 )；（冰川）崩解；生（小牛等），产（犊）；使（冰川）崩解

参考例句：

• a cow suckling her calves 给小牛吃奶的母牛
• The calves are grazed intensively during their first season. 小牛在生长的第一季里集中喂养。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 functional   

adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的

参考例句：

• The telephone was out of order,but is functional now.电话刚才坏了，但现在可以用了。
• The furniture is not fancy,just functional.这些家具不是摆着好看的，只是为了实用。

11 murky   

adj.黑暗的，朦胧的；adv.阴暗地，混浊地；n.阴暗；昏暗

参考例句：

• She threw it into the river's murky depths.她把它扔进了混浊的河水深处。
• She had a decidedly murky past.她的历史背景令人捉摸不透。