Mysterious New Whale Species Discovered in Alaska
文章来源：http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/07/new-whale-species
Like many goodmysteries/'mɪstri/, this one started with acorpse/kɔrps/, but the bodyin questionwas 24feet(7.3 meters) long.
mystery/'mɪstri/n. 神秘的事物；难以理解的事；古代的秘密宗教仪式（mystery的复数
corpse/kɔrps/,
n. 尸体
in question
讨论中的；成问题的；考虑中的
Theremains/rɪ'menz/floatedashore/ə'ʃɔr/in June of 2014, in the Pribilof Islands community of St. George, a tinyoasis/o'esɪs/of rock andgrassin the middle of Alaska's/ə'læskə/Bering/ˈbɪrɪŋ/Sea. A young biology teacherspotted/'spɑtɪd/thecarcass/‘kɑrkəs/half-buriedin sand on adesolate/'dɛsələt/windswept/ˈwɪndˌswɛpt/beach. He alerted a formerfursealresearcher whopresumed/pri'zjʊmd/, at first, that she knew what they'd found: aBaird'sbeaked/bi:kt/whale/wel/, a large, gray,deep-divingcreature thatoccasionally[ə’keɪʒnəli]washes in dead with thetide/taɪd/.
remains/rɪ’menz/
ashore/ə'ʃɔr/
adv. 在岸上；向岸
adj. 在岸上的；在陆上的
n. 残余；遗骸
oasis/o'esɪs/
n. 绿洲；舒适的地方；令人宽慰的事物
Alaska's/ə’læskə/
n. 阿拉斯加州
Bering/ˈbɪrɪŋ/
n. 白令海峡
carcass/‘kɑrkəs/
n. （人或动物的）尸体；残骸；（除脏去头备食用的）畜体
spot/spɑt/V-TIf youspotsomething or someone, you notice them. 发现
desolate/‘dɛsələt/ADJAdesolateplace is empty of people and lacking in comfort. 荒凉的
windswept/ˈwɪndˌswɛpt/ADJAwindsweptplace has no shelter and is not protected against strong winds. 受风吹的
furseal 海狗
presumed/pri’zjʊmd/V-TIf youpresumethatsomething is the case, you think that it is the case, although you are not certain. 推测
beaked/bi:kt/
adj. 有喙的；鸟嘴状的
deep-diving 深海的
occasionally[ə'keɪʒnəli]
偶然，偶尔，间或
tide/taɪd/
n. 趋势，潮流；潮汐
vt. 随潮漂流
But a closer examination later showed that theflesh/flɛʃ/was too dark, thedorsal/'dɔrsl/fin/fɪn/too big andfloppy/'flɑpi/. The animal was too short to be an adult, but its teeth wereworn/wɔrn/and yellowed with age.
It turns out, according to new research published Tuesday, that this was not a Baird's beaked whale at all, but an entirely newspecies/'spiʃiz/—a smaller,odd/ɑd/-shapedblackcetacean/sɪ'teʃən/that Japanese fishermen have long calledkarasu, orraven/'revən/.
flesh/flɛʃ/
n. 肉；肉体
dorsal/'dɔrsl/
adj. 背部的；背的，背侧的
fin/fɪn/
n. 鳍；鱼翅；鳍状物
worn/wɔrn/
adj. 疲倦的；用旧的
odd/ɑd/
adj. 奇数的；古怪的；剩余的；临时的；零散的
n. 奇数；怪人；奇特的事物
n. (Odd)人名；(英、西、挪、瑞典)奥德
cetacean/sɪ’teʃən/
adj. 鲸类的；鲸鱼的
n. 鲸鱼；鲸类动物
"We don't know how many there are, where they're typically found, anything," says Phillip Morin, amolecular/mə'lɛkjəlɚ/geneticist/dʒə'nɛtɪsɪst/at the National Oceanic/'oʃɪ'ænɪk/andAtmospheric/ˌætməs'fɛrɪk/Administration's Southwest Fisheries Science Center. "But we're going to start looking.”
molecular/mə'lɛkjəlɚ/geneticist/dʒə'nɛtɪsɪst/
adj. [化学] 分子的；由分子组成的
n. 遗传学者
Oceanic/‘oʃɪ'ænɪk/
adj. 海洋的；海洋产出的；在海洋中生活的；广阔无垠的
Atmospheric/ˌætməs'fɛrɪk/
adj. 大气的，大气层的
It’srare to uncover/ʌn'kʌvɚ/a new species of whale. Advances in DNA research have helped scientists identify/aɪ'dɛntɪfaɪ/five new cetaceans in the past 15 years but two were dolphins/'dɑlfɪn/and most were simple category splits between fairly similar/'sɪməlɚ/species. This animal, in the genus/'dʒinəs/Berardius, looks far different than its nearest relative andinhabits/ɪn'hæbɪt/an area of the North Pacific wheremarine/mə'rin/mammal/'mæml/research has beenconducted/kən'dʌkt/fordecades/'dekeid/.
uncover/ʌn'kʌvɚ/
vt. 发现；揭开；揭露
vi. 发现；揭示；揭去盖子
genus/'dʒinəs/
n. 类，种；[生物] 属
inhabits/ɪn'hæbɪt/
vt. 栖息；居住于；占据
vi. （古）居住；栖息
marine/mə’rin/
adj. 船舶的；海生的；海产的；航海的，海运的
n. 海运业；舰队；水兵；（海军）士兵或军官
mammal/'mæml/
n. [脊椎] 哺乳动物
"It's a really big deal," says study co-author Paul Wade of NOAA's National Marine Mammal Laboratory/ˈlæbrəˌtɔri/. "If you think about it, on land, discovery of new species of large mammals isexceptionally/ɪkˈs ɛpʃənəlɪ/rare.It just doesn't happen very often. It's quiteremarkable/rɪ'mɑrkəbl/.”
exceptionally/ɪkˈs ɛpʃənəlɪ/
adv. 异常地；特殊地；例外地
remarkable/rɪ’mɑrkəbl/.
adj. 卓越的；非凡的；值得注意的
SKELETONS, BEAKS, AND BONE POWDER
Morin and his team examined the St. George carcass, took bonepowder/'paʊdɚ/from old museumspecimens/'spɛsəmən/, and reviewed DNA tests of whales from the Sea of Okhotsk. They studied skulls/skʌl/andbeaksandanalyzed/'ænl,aɪz/records fromwhaling/'welɪŋ/fleets/fli:t/in Japan. They even tracked down a skeleton hanging from theceiling/'silɪŋ/in a high schoolgymnasium/dʒɪmˈneziəm/in the Aleutian Islands.
powder/‘paʊdɚ/
n. 粉；粉末；[化工][军] 火药；尘土
vt. 使成粉末；撒粉；搽粉于
vi. 搽粉；变成粉末
specimens/‘spɛsəmən/
n. 样品，样本；标本
fleets/fli:t/
n. [军] 舰队（fleet的复数）
v. 掠过（fleet的第三人称单数形式）
ceiling/'silɪŋ/
n. 天花板；上限
gymnasium/dʒɪmˈneziəm/
n. 体育馆；健身房
The scientists conclude in their study published in Marine Mammal Science that this type of whale, which has not yet been named, is nearly as far removedgeneticallyfrom the Northern Hemisphere's Baird's beaked whales as it is from its closest known relative, Arnoux's beaked whales, which swim in theAntarctic/æn'tɑrktɪk/Ocean. The differences, in fact, are sodramatic/drə'mætɪk/that the animal has to be something else, they say.
Antarctic/æn'tɑrktɪk/
adj.南极的;南极地区的
n.(A-)南极洲
genetical/dʒi'netikəl/
adj. 遗传的；起源的；创始的
"It's just so exciting to think that in 2016 we're still discovering things in our world—even mammals that are more than 20 feet long," Morin says.
He is not alone in hisenthusiasm/ɪn'θuzɪæzəm/. Robert Pitman serves on ataxonomy/tæk'sɑnəmi/committee/kə'mɪti/for the Society for MarineMammalogy, which publishes anannual/'ænjuəl/list of all recognized marine mammal species. He is not among the 16 co-authors on Morin's paper. But at a time when the diversity of marine mammals is shrinking—the Yangtze/'jæŋtsi/River dolphin is now functionallyextinct/ɪk'stɪŋkt/and Mexico’s vaquitaporpoise/'pɔrpəs/is dangerously close—Pitman calls the discovery "heartening/'hɑːtənɪŋ/.”
enthusiasm/ɪn'θuzɪæzəm/
n. 热心，热忱，热情
taxonomy/tæk'sɑnəmi/
annual/‘ænjuəl/
adj. 年度的；每年的
n. 年刊，年鉴；一年生植物
n. 分类学；分类法
extinct/ɪk'stɪŋkt/
adj. 灭绝的，绝种的；熄灭的
vt. 使熄灭
porpoise/'pɔrpəs/
n. 海豚；鼠海豚
heartening/‘hɑːtənɪŋ/.
adj. 鼓舞人心的，令人振奋的
"Itboggles/ˈbɑɡəl/my mind to think that a large, very different-looking whale has gone unnoticed by the scientific community for so long," Pitman says. "It sends a clear message about how little we know about what is in the ocean around us."
The discovery also raises new questions about how well humans are understanding thethreats/θret/posed by marine activities, from energyexploration/ˌɛksplə'reʃən/to sonar/'sonɑr/use, given that so few people even knew such a creature existed.
boggles/ˈbɑɡəl/
vi. 犹豫，退缩；惊恐
vt. 搞糟，弄坏；使……惊奇；使……困惑
n. 犹豫，退缩；惊奇
threats/θret/
n. 威胁，风险（threat的复数）
v. 威胁（threat的第三人称单数）；恐吓
exploration/ˌɛksplə'reʃən/
n. 探测；探究；踏勘
AN UNRECOGNIZABLE, BAFFLING CREATURE
UNRECOGNIZABLE/ˌʌnrɛkəɡ’naɪzəbl/
adj. 未被承认的；无法认出的
BAFFLING/'bæflɪŋ/
adj. 令人困惑的；阻碍的；令人丧气的；变幻的
v. 使困惑；挫败（baffle的ing形式）
Of the 88 recognized living cetacean species, includingorcasandhumpbacks,bottlenosedolphins and Dall'sporpoises, 22 are beaked whales. The largest of those, Baird's beaked whales, also calledgiantbottlenose whales, can reach 35 to 40 feet (10.7 to 12 meters) and weigh more than 24,000 pounds (10,900 kilograms). They travel in large groups, may dive 3,000 feet (914 meters), and can be underwater for an hour. While beaked whales are still hunted in Japan, little about them is known.In partthat’s because they spend so much time feeding and exploringvast, deepcanyonsfar fromshore.
When Christian Hagenlocher on St. George, a 35-square-mile (91-square-kilometer) islandinhabitedby 100 people, frequented by hundreds of thousands ofseals, and visited by 2.5 million birds,pointed outthe dead whale in Zapadni Bay to former seal researcher Karin Holser, she thought it was a Baird's beaked whale. But later, astidesand currents revealed more of the animal, Holser realized she didn't recognize it at all. Sheconsulteda colleague's cetacean identification book and sent pictures to other experts in Alaska.
"Thisdorsal finwas larger,further aft,and had morecurvaturethan that of a Baird's beaked whale," says independentecologistMichelle Ridgway, who arrived on the island days later. "Thejawstructure and the shape of themelonwere not quite right, either.” And this whale, while clearly an adult, was just two-thirds the size of full-grown Baird’s beaked whales.
Holser and other island residents measured the whale. Ridgway collectedtissue, arranging to ship the slightlyfetidsamples throughintermediariesto Morin's lab in Southern California.
Morinwasintrigued.
SO MYSTERIOUS IT'S 'ALMOST FOLKLORE'
Just nine months earlier, he'dspiednew research by Japanese scientists attempting to describe differences between Baird's beaked whales anda rare black formthat whalers hadwhisperedabout since the 1940s. Groups of these smaller whales were sometime spotted in Japan’s Nemuro Strait, but only between April and June. There was no record of scientists ever seeing one alive.
"They're almostfolklore," Morin says.
The Japanese scientists hadspeculatedin fall of 2013 that this may be an unknown species of beaked whale. But they were forced to draw conclusions from DNA taken from just three of the creatures that had stranded off Hokkaido. They concluded more evidence was needed.
Even before receiving the samples from St. George, Morin had been trying tohunt downmore specimens.
He went through NOAA'stissuecollection, pulling all 50 or so that had previously been identified as a Baird's beaked whale. Using DNA testing he found that two were actually a closer genetic match to the small black whales tested by Japanese scientists in 2013. One of those was from a whale that washed ashore in 2004 and now hangs in a school gym in Dutch Harbor. Scientists there had long assumed it was a younger Baird's beaked whale.
Morin also took the suggestion of one of the Japanese scientists, who had identified a skeleton from 1948 with an unusual shaped head at the Smithsonian Institution. And hetracked downanother skeleton from the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History with body measurements that suggested they were the small black form. Morin tookbone powderfrom both, and tested their DNA. They, too, were a match for karasu.
Along with the whale from St. George, Morin now had found five new specimens that were similar to the three found in Japan.
To describe a new species, however, "youbuild uplines of evidence, but that's very hard with an animal we've never seen alive," Morin says. But body measurements between Baird's beaked whales and the smaller black creature provedvastly/'va:stli/different, as did their DNA.
adv. 极大地；广大地；深远地
Baird's beaked whalesrange throughoutthe North Pacific from Russia and Japan to Mexico. Genetic variation among Baird’s beaked whales was tiny. But for the five new black specimens Morin tested, allinitiallyfrom theBering Seaor theAleutians, the sequences differed from the Baird's beaked whalessignificantly.
"The genetic variation within the forms was little, while thedivergence/dɪ'vɝdʒəns/between them was much larger," Morin says. "That's our strongest argument.”
divergence/dɪ'vɝdʒəns/
n. 分歧
The whale still needs to be formally described and named, and Morin's findings would have to be accepted by outside experts who track cetacean taxonomy. But Pitman and others say the case is strong that it’s a new species.
"We're doing increasing damage to our environment, and we can't even begin toconserve/kən'sɝv/thebiodiversity/ˌbaɪodaɪ'vɝsəti/we know is out there," Morin says. "Yet there's so much more about our world we don't even understand.”
biodiversity/ˌbaɪodaɪ'vɝsəti/
[time]
6:10 - 6:42 am 32m
6:42 - 7:28 am 46m
11-11:21 pm 21m
[sentence]
It just doesn't happen very often. It's quiteremarkable/rɪ'mɑrkəbl/.
It sends a clear message about how little we know about what is in the ocean around us.
The discovery also raises new questions about how well humans are understanding the threats/θret/ posed by marine activities, from energy exploration/ˌɛksplə'reʃən/ to sonar /'sonɑr/ use, given that so few people even knew such a creature existed.
"We're doing increasing damage to our environment, and we can't even begin toconserve/kən'sɝv/thebiodiversity/ˌbaɪodaɪ'vɝsəti/we know is out there," Morin says. "Yet there's so much more about our world we don't even understand.”
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