大西洋深海中
From the depths of the Atlantic Ocean.
出现一个迹象
A sign.
这是一种庞然大物的呼吸声
This is the breath of a giant.
不是随便什么巨物
And not just any giant. . .
而是一种在熟睡的动物
but a sleeping one.
一个抹香鲸家族在睡午觉
A family of sperm whales takes an afternoon nap.
它们休息时 就像是高达12米的树木
They rest as tall as 40-foot trees. . .
安静的样子仿佛雕像
and as still as statues.
但一头幼鲸按捺不住了
But one young whale wants to get moving.
这头幼崽是整个种群的未来
This baby is the future of her entire clan.
它们的希望都寄托在它能否学好 家族生存之道
Their hopes rest solely on her ability to learn their ways. . .
家族文化
their culture. . .
以及家族绝技
and their secrets.
海洋巨物
旁白 西格妮·韦弗
《白鲸记》中的鲸鱼莫比·迪克 就是一头抹香鲸
Moby Dick was a sperm whale. . .
它被刻画成一个怪物
portrayed as a monster.
它们的体重可能超过50吨♥
They may be more than 50 tons,
但抹香鲸却是温和的巨物
but sperm whales are gentle giants.
它们有着深厚的家庭亲情关系
They have deep family connections.
几代雌鲸相互学习
Generations of females learn from each other.
多个家庭组成的鲸群有着共同的语言
And groups of families share a common language.
它们的交谈声听起来像是摩尔斯电码
Their chatter sounds like Morse code.
它们通过巨型脑袋中的
They make these clicks with air-filled sacks
充满空气的囊发出咔哒声
inside their enormous heads.
它们的头部 可以达到整个体长的三分之一
Their heads can be a third their body length,
头颅内是地球上存在的最大的大脑
and inside, the largest brains that have ever existed on our planet.
足足是人类大脑的六倍
Six times the size of ours.
现在 在一个
And now, finally,
它们称之为家的特别地方
these sperm whales reveal a little of what they’re thinking. . .
这些抹香鲸 终于透露了一点它们的想法
in a very special place they call home.
多米尼克
多米尼克位于 加勒比海东部一系列岛屿的中部
Dominica marks the middle of a string of eastern Caribbean islands.
这些岛屿是20多个抹香鲸家族的家园
These islands are home to more than 20 sperm whale families
它们从不离开这些水域
that never leave these waters.
由于船只撞击和被海洋垃圾缠住
This family has lost many calves
这个家族失去了很多幼崽
to boat strikes and entanglements in marine debris.
它们的后代很少能活到成年
They’ve had few babies survive to adulthood.
但现在 来了一位新成员
But now, a new addition.
它才六个月大 但已经将近4米长
Just six months old, yet already 12 feet long.
跟所有哺乳动物的幼崽一样 它需要靠妈妈哺乳
Like all mammal babies, she relies on milk from her mother.
但抹香鲸究竟如何进食 却一直是科学界的一个谜
But exactly how sperm whales feed has been a mystery to science.
它没有吸吮的嘴唇 妈妈的乳♥头♥也不是突出来的
She has no lips for sucking and mom’s nipples are inverted.
终于 我们捕捉到 抹香鲸正在哺乳的画面了
Now, at long last, we see sperm whale nursing in action.
幼崽将下颌伸进妈妈的乳缝中
The young calf pushes her lower jaw into the nipple cavity
然后乳汁会喷射进入它嘴里
and the milk is injected into her mouth.
乳汁像酸奶一样浓稠 脂肪是人类乳汁的十倍
It’s thick like yogurt, with ten times more fat than human milk.
哺乳时小睡15分钟 对妈妈来说已经足够了
A 15-minute snooze while feeding is ample for mom.
抹香鲸的睡眠时间 比地球上任何其他哺乳动物要少
Sperm whales sleep less than any other mammal on the planet.
年长的雌鲸宣布午休时间结束
The older females call nap time over.
这并非独♥裁♥统治
This is no dictatorship.
抹香鲸家族都是群体来做决定
Sperm whale families make decisions as a group.
科学家们已经追踪到 鲸鱼会为改变游向
Scientists have tracked whales quibbling for an hour or two
而争论一两个小时
-over a change of direction.
新生幼崽没什么发言权
The new baby may not get much of a say. . .
但它在一旁倾听
but she listens. . .
并学习
and learns.
这次成年抹香鲸都达成一致意见
This time, the adults all agree.
是时候去工作了
It’s time for work.
每头成年抹香鲸 每天必须吃数百只乌贼
Each adult must eat hundreds of squid every day.
倒计时开始 准备见证 大自然中最不可思议的奇迹之一
The countdown begins for one of the most incredible feats in nature. . .
抹香鲸潜入深海觅食
a sperm whale’s deep dive to feed.
它们吸进空气
They suck in the air.
它们血液中能容纳的氧气量 是人类血液的八倍
Their blood can hold eight times more oxygen than our blood.
尾鳍全部露出水面
The tail flukes come all the way out of the water.
这表示它们往下潜了
That means they’re headed down. . .
或许超过900米
maybe more than 3, 000 feet.
潜入深度比帝国大厦高度的两倍还多
More than twice as deep as the Empire State Building is high.
幼崽选择等着妈妈出来
The calf chooses to wait this one out.
需要再过三年
It’ll be another three years
它才能学成如何自己潜入深海觅食
before she’s learned enough to feed on her own in the deep.
你或许会担心 它迷失在这浩瀚的蓝色大海中
You might think she’d get lost in the vast blue. . .
但它能够追踪 妈妈捕猎时发出的咔哒声
but she can track her mom’s hunting clicks
并且它随时可以 呼叫家族中的任何成员
and she can call anyone in her family at any time.
它在学习一门完整的语言
She’s learning an entire language,
由母亲世代相传
passed on by generations of mothers
整个东加勒比地区的鲸鱼种群 都使用同一门语言
and shared by her entire eastern Caribbean whale clan.
She calls out
它发出一连串清晰的咔哒声
with a distinct series of clicks.
每种声音模式称为一个密♥码♥曲
Each pattern is called a coda.
但并非所有听众都是鲸鱼
But not everyone listening is a whale.
鲸鱼生物学家谢恩·杰罗博士 认识这个家族已经16年了
Whale biologist Dr. Shane Gero has known this family for 16 years.
他希望能追踪到 它们与这头新生幼崽的对话
He hopes to track the chatter to the new baby.
对 东北方向的莫恩埃斯帕尼奥尔山 那边传来清晰的咔哒声
Yeah, there’s good clicks off of Morne Espagnol to the northeast.
抹香鲸的世界是声音的世界
The sperm whale world is a world of sound.
它们利用咔哒声来觅食 在黑暗中寻找方向
They use clicks to find food and navigate in this darkness.
用另外的声音相互交谈
And they use other sounds to talk with one another.
跟谢恩一起的 还有《国家地理》的探险家
Alongside Shane, fellow National Geographic explorer
和世界著名摄影师布赖恩·斯克里
and world-famous photographer Brian Skerry.
他正在执行一项为期三年的任务 去记录全球各地的鲸鱼群落
He’s on a three-year mission to document whale societies around the globe.
这些鲸鱼只会短暂地浮出水面
These animals only surface for brief intervals.
也就是说你必须随时做好准备
That means you have to be ready all the time.
但只要找到一头雌性幼鲸 我们就能了解这个鲸群的情况
But finding a female calf will really tell us how this pod is doing.
他们的前途就明朗了
That things are going to be hopefully bright in their future.
对 它们往东边去了?
Yeah. Yeah, they headed, uh, east?
过去几年 布赖恩在这里耗了数月
Over the past few years Brian has spent months here. . .
只想拍到一张好照片
trying to get just one good photo.
如果这头幼鲸允许的话
This may be his chance. . .
这次他可能有机会拍到
if the baby whale will allow it.
有头小的
There’s the little one.
这小家伙还浮在海面上吗?
The little guy is still on the surface, huh?
不过它不急不缓的
She’s taking her time, though.
当这个长相奇怪的生物靠近时
She’s all by herself. . .
它独自待着
when the strange-looking creature moves in.
这足以吓跑许多幼鲸
It’s enough to scare many youngsters away. . .
但这头却充满好奇
but this baby is curious.
它觉得没准这是跟它玩捉迷藏呢
Perhaps a game of hide and seek.
它把马尾藻当作丝瓜络来搓澡
She uses the sargassum weed like a loofah,
它可能好奇为什么布赖恩不那样做
possibly wondering why Brian isn’t doing the same.
这是一次难得的邂逅
It’s a rare encounter.
这头幼鲸不可能超过六个月大
This one can’t be more than about six months old. So. . .
很神奇 小家伙在玩耍
It’s incredible, the little calf is just playing
布赖恩就在一旁拍照片 真是太棒了
and Brian’s right there taking photos. It’s amazing.
后来 布赖恩放下摄影机 享受这一刻
Then Brian puts down his camera to be in the moment.
哇 那头抹香鲸幼崽 真是又漂亮又大方
Wow. That is one beautiful, generous sperm whale calf.
我的天
Oh, my goodness.
一开始我只是在拍它 对吧?
You know, in the beginning I’m just shooting, right?
但过了一会儿 我就很想享受那一刻
But after a while, I mean, it’s just like, I want to enjoy it.
我想看看它 跟它聊聊天
I want to look at her and talk to her, you know?
我说“谢谢你 谢谢你让我拍”
And I’m saying, “Thank you. Thank you for this. ”
很奇妙的感觉
Just fantastic.
这种长久以来被刻画成怪物的动物
This animal that for so long has been portrayed as a monster. . .
有这样一刻 足以粉碎那种印象
to have a moment like this just shatters any of that.
它们才不是什么怪物
It’s just not at all what they are.
我们花了过去15年的时间 试图去了解
You know, we’ve spent the last 15 years trying to understand
鲸鱼家族的生活是什么样的
what it’s like to live as a whale family.
鲸鱼家族丰富多彩
And their families are rich
-跟人类一样 天哪
-and experience joy. . . Oh, man!
-体验着快乐 知道吗? 太疯狂了
-. . . in the same way that we do, you know? So crazy.
我们越是觉得它们跟人类相像
The more that we see them like ourselves,
就对它们有更多的同理心
the more empathy we have for them.
我认为人类将开始意识到 我们在海洋中还有兄弟
I think humans will begin to realize that we have brethren in the sea