科学美国人60秒：在南极会嘎嘎叫的，也许是鲸鱼

This is Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Sophie Bushwick.Got a minute?

这里是《科学美国人》的60秒科学，我是苏菲·布什维克。准备好了吗?

In the 1960s submarine teams in the Southern Ocean first heard [recording of odd sound]. The sound reminded the submariners of a duck. So they dubbed the mysterious sound the bio-duck. Since then, scientists have frequently recorded the bio-duck sound in Antarctic waters. But its source remained unknown. Until now.

20世纪60年代，南大洋的潜艇小组第一次听到[奇怪的声音记录]。这声音使潜艇员想起了鸭子。所以他们把这种神秘的声音称为“仿生鸭子”。从那以后，科学家们经常在南极水域记录仿生鸭子的声音。但其来源仍然未知。直到现在。

In 2013 researchers attached sensors to two Antarctic minke whales. The tags could track depth and location—and also record vocalizations. Over a combined total of 26 hours, 32 calls were captured—including some low-pitched pulses. Some of which matched recordings made nearby of the bio-duck sound. The minke whale is thus revealed to be the source of the decades-old unidentified bio-duckitude. The work is in the journal Biology Letters.

2013年，研究人员在两只南极小须鲸身上安装了传感器,可以追踪深度和位置，还可以记录声音。在总共26个小时的时间里，捕获了32个呼叫——包括一些低频脉冲。其中一些声音与仿生鸭子的声音相匹配。因此，小须鲸被揭示为几十年前不明仿生鸭子的来源。这项研究发表在《生物学快报》杂志上。

Because minke whales swim in icy Antarctic waters, they're difficult to monitor, especially in winter. But by analyzing the collection of bio-duck sounds recorded over the decades, researchers may now be able to track their population size and migration patterns. But perhaps the bigger lesson: if it quacks like a duck...maybe it’s a whale.

由于小须鲸在冰冷的南极水域游泳，它们很难被监控，尤其是在冬天。但通过分析过去几十年记录的仿生鸭子的声音，研究人员现在可能能够追踪它们的种群规模和迁移模式。但也许更重要的教训是:如果它像鸭子一样嘎嘎叫……也许是鲸鱼。

Thanks for the minute for Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Sophie Bushwick.

感谢收听《科学美国人》的60秒科学。苏菲·布什维克报道。