VOA慢速英语2019 科学家们可能有了拯救鲸鱼的新方法:检查它们的嘴巴（在线收听）

Scientists May Have New Way to Save Whales: Examine Their Mouths

Whale researchers believe they have found a new way to help protect the animals from dying off.

鲸类研究人员认为他们已经找到了一种新的方法来帮助保护这些动物免于灭绝。 

The researchers say they can study the mouths of dead whales to identify how often they faced serious threats, such as being hit by a ship.

研究人员表示，他们可以通过研究死鲸的嘴来确定它们所面临严重威胁的频率，比如被船撞到的频率。

American Rosalind Rolland is the lead scientist on the project. She and her team are with the New England Aquarium in Boston, Massachusetts. They reported their findings in the online publication Marine Mammal Science.

美国的罗莎琳德·罗兰是该项目的首席科学家。她和她的团队在马萨诸塞州波士顿的新英格兰水族馆工作。他们在在线出版物《海洋哺乳动物科学》上刊登了他们的发现。

Rolland and her team studied baleen, a substance found in the upper part of the mouth of some kinds of whale. She explains that the baleen records each time the animal’s stress hormone increases. Scientists can then read these records, similar to reading the rings on a tree.

罗兰和她的团队研究了鲸须，即一种存在于某些鲸鱼上颚的物质。她解释说，鲸须记录下动物每次应激激素增加时的情况。然后，科学家就可以读取这些记录，就像读取树上的年轮一样。

Understanding the information is important because whales who often feel stressed are less likely to reproduce and more likely to become sick. That combination is not good for the whale population, which is already dangerously low.

了解这些信息很重要，因为经常感到压力的鲸鱼繁殖的可能性更小，更容易生病。这种结合对已经处于濒危水平的鲸鱼种群来说并不好。

The scientists did their work on a whale that had become trapped in fishing equipment. It was finally killed by Inuit hunters who found it trying to swim in the equipment. The hunters said the whale seemed to lack energy. When scientists examined the dead whale, they found its mouth showed an increase in stress hormones 20 times greater than normal.

科学家们对一条被困在捕鱼设备中的鲸鱼进行了研究。它最终被因纽特猎人杀死，他们发现它曾试图在捕鱼装置中游泳。猎人们说这头鲸似乎缺乏能量。当科学家们对这头死鲸进行检查时，他们发现它的嘴中应激激素的含量比正常情况下多了20倍。

Their research comes as fishermen, government officials, and wildlife activists struggle with how to protect sea animals. Some whale species are dying off because climate change has affected their supply of food. Others are victims of accidents. For example, some scientists estimate that fishing equipment kills up to 300,000 whales and dolphins each year.

他们的研究正值渔民、政府官员和野生动物保护人士为如何保护海洋动物而斗争之际。由于气候变化影响了鲸类的食物供应，一些鲸类正在灭绝。其他鲸鱼则是事故的受害者。例如，一些科学家估计，捕鱼设备每年杀死多达30万只鲸鱼和海豚。

Regina Asmutis-Silvia is a biologist with the Whale and Dolphin Conservation in Massachusetts. She was not involved in the research, but she says it is important.

雷加娜·西尔维亚是马萨诸塞州鲸鱼和海豚保护组织的生物学家。她没有参与这项研究，但她说这很重要。

The study shows that getting caught in fishing equipment does not just limit a whale’s movements or ability to eat, she says. Getting caught also changes the body’s ability to fight disease, have babies, and even grow.

她说，研究表明，被渔具缠住不仅限制了鲸鱼的活动或进食能力。如果被捕鱼具困住还会改变身体对抗疾病、生育甚至生长的能力。

“We clearly understand that stress is bad for humans,” she notes. But, she says, we also need to understand that stress is bad for other animals, too.

“我们清楚地知道，压力对人类是有害的，”她指出。但是，她说，我们也需要明白，压力对其他动物也是有害的。

Words in This Story

online - n. done over the Internet

baleen - n. whalebone

stress hormone - n. a chemical the body produces in answer to strong feelings of stress, worry or anxiety

species - n. a group of animals or plants that are similar and can produce young animals or plants