靜聽鯨語

新疆 王向陽

疫情的爆發導致很多輪船無法正常航行，因此海面變得安靜了，更為安靜的環境為科學家們靜聽鯨語提供了難得的機會。

難詞探意

1. humpback /'h?mpb?k/ n. 座頭鯨

2. hydrophone /'ha?dr?f??n/ n. 水中聽音器

3. vocalize /'v??k?la?z/ v. 說（話）；唱（歌）；發聲

When humpback whales swam to Glacier Bay in Alaska to spend the long summer days feeding, they arrived to something unusual: quieter waters.

“For long animals have been able to communicate over vast distances in the ocean. Once we introduce noise and increase sound levels,they won't communicate over those distances.Clearly there's going to be some impact there,”says Jason Gedamke, who manages the ocean acoustics program at NOAA Fisheries.

While many scientists have canceled field work this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which keeps more cruise ships docked and provides momentary relief for whales that are highly sensitive to noise, wildlife biologists in Glacier Bay National Park（GBNP）have kept it up by taking solo boat trips to track the humpback population. The data they collect to count and identify whales continue record-keeping that goes back 35 years.

These humpbacks are still recovering from a stretch of bad years when few baby whales were born. In the Pacific, warmer ocean temperatures dramatically harmed the food web. This year, the signs are more encouraging.

“They're really homebodies,” Christine Gabriele, a wildlife biologist says. “They go back to the same feeding spots year after year.”

But below the surface, Gabriele and her colleagues are learning far more with a hydrophone, continually recording the underwater soundscape. Humpbacks are chatty creatures.They use sound in almost every aspect of their daily life. Studying the underwater sound environment is really important because it helps to see the world the way the whales actually use it.

The whales also share Glacier Bay with cruise ships and boats, which are regulated to limit their numbers. When vessel noise is loud,Gabriele and her colleagues found that the whales have to accommodate it,a lot like people would at a loud party.

“In order to communicate with each other,they might have to be close together,” she says.“They might have to repeat themselves. Or they might have to wait for a quieter moment before they start vocalizing.”

But this year, boat traffic has been way down.“It's much quieter,” Gabriele says. “Just by listening to it you can tell.”

“The pandemic has created this unexpected opportunity for science, kind of a once-in-alifetime chance to look at whale communication behavior in its natural undisturbed form,”Gabriele says.

1. Why did the humpback whales swim to

Glacier Bay in Alaska?

A. To look for cleaner waters.

B. To enjoy the summer there.

C. To feed baby humpback whales.

D. To escape from being found and killed.

2. What can be inferred according to Para. 2 and Para. 3?

A. Noise has little influence on humpback whales' communication.

B. The outbreak of the pandemic made trade by sea less than usual.

C. Data collected to count and identify whales were a little disappointing.

D. Wildlife biologists in GBNP observed whales more during the pandemic.

3. What does the underlined word “homebodies”probably mean?

A. Those who love their home and like staying at home.

B. Those who act only within the scope of their home.

C. Those who return to their home from time to time.

D.Those who leave their home at an early age.

4. What does Gabriele think of the pandemic in

terms of her research?

A. Once in a blue moon.

B. A fence before the rain.

C. An item on the agenda.

D. The writing on the wall.

Difficult sentence

While many scientists have canceled field work this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which keeps more cruise ships docked and pro vides momentary relief for whales that are highly sensitive to noise, wildlife biologists in Glacier Bay National Park（GBNP） have kept it up by taking solo boat trips to track the humpback population.

【翻譯】_______________________________

【點石成金】本句中While引導的是一個讓步狀語從句，在句中意為“盡管”；which引導的是一個非限制性定語從句， 先行詞為the COVID-19 pandemic；that 引 導 定 語 從 句，先行 詞 為whales。 wildlife biologists in Glacier Bay...humpback population為句子的主句部分。

冰川灣國家公園（Glacier Bay National Park）

冰川灣國家公園（Glacier Bay National Park）占地330萬英畝，園內有崎嶇的山脈、動態的冰川、蒼翠和繁茂的溫帶雨林、天然的海岸線和深深的海灣，是阿拉斯加的一個亮點。 該公園是世界自然遺產之一，也是世界上最大的國際保護區之一。

1794年，英國航海家溫哥華乘“發現”號來到艾西海峽時，還沒有冰川灣。 他所看到的只是一堵16公里長、一百米高的冰墻。 但是85年后美國博物學家約翰·繆爾來到此地，他發現的是個廣闊的海灣。冰川已向陸地縮回了77公里。現在，在冰川灣國家公園里，冰蝕的峽灣沿著兩岸茂密的森林，伸入內陸一百公里，盡頭是裸露的巖石，或是從美加邊境山脈流下的16條冰川中的某一條。 高高的山峰遠遠聳立在地平線上，俯瞰這片哺育冰川的冰雪大地，其中最高峰是海拔4,670米的費爾韋瑟峰。