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Marine Mammal and Turtle Division, 11/1/2014 01:08:51 PM

海洋哺乳動物與海龜科，11/1/2014 01:08:51 PM

By Michael Milstein, NOAA Public Affairs Officer

作者：NOAA公共事務官Michael Milstein
 

An on-going NOAA Fisheries marine mammal and ecosystem survey off the West Coast has sighted several surprising species of tropical cetaceans and birds, including pygmy killer whales and Band-rumped Storm-Petrels, never before documented so far north, and loggerhead turtles, likely attracted by unusually warm Pacific Ocean waters. 

美國西岸正在進行的NOAA漁業海洋哺乳動物和生態系統調查已經發現了幾種驚人的熱帶鯨類和鳥類，包括小虎鯨和斑腰叉尾海燕，以及至今北方從未有過記錄的赤蠵龜，牠們可能是被異常溫暖的太平洋海水吸引而來。 

The survey has encountered strikingly warm sea surface temperatures as high as 23˚ Celsius (74˚ Fahrenheit), which NOAA Fisheries researchers have been watching for months. The warm conditions have been linked to other recent sightings of unusual species of seabirds, fish and marine mammals rarely seen in the northern Pacific.

這項調查進行時碰到了高達23℃（74℉）的海面溫度，而NOAA的漁業研究人員已經觀察這種異常溫暖的現象好幾個月。這種溫暖的海水溫度也與最近在北太平洋發現了少見的海鳥、魚類和海洋哺乳動物的稀有物種有關。

The recent sightings are part of the four-month

最近觀察到的紀錄是這四個月中的其中一部分

California Current Cetacean and Ecosystem Assessment Survey (CalCurCEAS), conducted every three to six years by the Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC). The CalCurCEAS assesses marine mammals off the U.S. West Coast and tracks conditions that affect the ecosystems in which they live. The findings inform NOAA decisions on West Coast fisheries, ensuring safeguards to protect marine mammals and other protected and endangered species, such as marine turtles and seabirds.

西南漁業科學中心（SWFSC）每三到六年會進行一次加州當前鯨豚暨生態系統評估調查（CalCurCEAS）。CalCurCEAS評估美國西岸外的海洋生物並追蹤能夠影響牠們生存的生態系統的環境狀況。這項調查報告了NOAA對於美國西岸漁業的決定，這項決定確保能夠保護海洋哺乳動物以及其他受保護的物種和瀕危物種，如海龜和海鳥。

“There’s no substitute for actually getting out on the ocean and systematically surveying the number and location of these animals,” said Jay Barlow, a SWFSC marine mammal biologist who is chief scientist for the survey. “The ocean is always changing, and we need current data to understand how these top predators are doing and how they are responding to ocean conditions.”

SWFSC的海洋哺乳動物生物學家Jay Barlow表示:「沒有其他的替代方法可以實際走入海洋並系統性地調查這些動物的數量和位置。」他是這項調查的首席科學家。「海洋總是在變化，我們需要目前的數據來了解這些頂級掠食者的行為以及牠們如何應對這些海洋條件。」

The survey began in San Diego in early August and has continued in legs of about 24 days each, crisscrossing waters up to 300 miles off the West Coast north to Washington. The survey coincides with fall whale and seabird migrations and will continue into December. Research scientists describe their findings from each leg in reports available on the SWFSC website

這項調查於8月初從聖地亞哥開始，每個階段持續約24天並縱橫交錯於西岸北部到華盛頓長達300英里的水域。這項調查恰逢鯨落與海鳥遷徙時期，並將持續到12月。研究科學家在SWFSC的網站上提供報告，描述他們每一個階段的發現。

Among the highlights so far:

目前調查的發現重點為：

• A group of pygmy killer whales, a rarely seen tropical species that typically frequents warmer southern waters. “We knew immediately it was an unusual sighting,” said Lisa Ballance, Director of the SWFSC’s Marine Mammal and Turtle Division. Scientists aboard a small boat took tiny skin samples for genetic studies of population structure.

• 發現一群小虎鯨。這是一種罕見的熱帶物種，牠們通常會出現在比較溫暖的南部海域。SWFSC海洋哺乳動物和海龜科的主任Lisa Ballance說:「我們立刻知道這是一次不尋常的目擊現象。」科學家們搭著一艘小船，採集了少許的皮膚樣本，以用來調查小虎鯨群結構的遺傳學研究。
• The sighting off Oregon of a killer whale with a distinctively damaged dorsal fin that was previously known mainly from sightings in Monterey Bay, CA and more recently off Vancouver Island. The whale’s dorsal fin was apparently injured in past years by an entanglement and a propeller strike.
• 在俄勒岡州目擊到一頭背鰭上有明顯傷痕的虎鯨，這種現象過去主要都是在加州的蒙特利灣和比較近期的溫哥華島附近才能觀察到。這頭鯨魚背鰭上的傷痕明顯是幾年前受到螺旋槳絞傷所造成的。
• Short-beaked common dolphins almost every 15 to 30 minutes over the course of one day, totaling thousands of individuals.
• 在一整天的調查過程中，短吻真海豚幾乎每隔15到30分鐘就會出現一次，總共有數千隻。
• Warm-water seabirds that are extremely unusual so far north. Scientists spotted a Brown Booby off Washington and two others, each off Oregon and California, which researchers described as “an unprecedented northward dispersal” of the species. Sightings of two Band-rumped Storm-Petrels were likely the first-ever reports of the species in the northeast Pacific. The storm petrels were likely from populations in Hawaii or the Galapagos.
• 至今為止北方都極度不常見到溫水海域的海鳥。科學家們在華盛頓發現了一隻白腹鰹鳥，在俄勒岡州和加州也各發現一隻。研究人員將此現象稱為一種物種「前所未有的向北擴散現象」。目擊到的兩隻斑腰叉尾海燕，可能是這種物種首次出現在東北太平洋的報導。這些海燕很可能是來自於夏威夷或加拉巴哥群島。
• Other sub-tropical seabirds such as Hawaiian Petrels, Black-vented and Pink-footed Shearwaters and Red-billed Tropicbirds.
• 其他亞熱帶海鳥，如夏威夷海燕、黑腹鸌、粉腳鸌和紅嘴熱帶鳥。
• Numerous other whale and dolphin sightings included sei, blue, fin, humpback and short-finned pilot whales, and common, striped, Pacific white-sided and northern right whale dolphins. In one case, northern right whale dolphins were riding in the wake of a fin whale.
• 觀察到許多其他的鯨魚和海豚，包括塞鯨、藍鯨、長鬚鯨、座頭鯨和短肢領航鯨，以及真海豚、條紋原海豚、太平洋短吻海豚和北露脊海豚。其中一個目擊案例中，有一隻北露脊海豚正游在長鬚鯨之後。

The surveys take frequent environmental measurements and sample plankton and marine life such as squid as indicators of ocean conditions and the state of the marine ecosystem. Researchers also deploy acoustic equipment to listen for whale and dolphin vocalizations. The equipment includes a towed hydrophone array, buoys that listen to high-priority species and free-floating recording devices that monitor ocean sounds 100 meters below the surface without noise interference from the research ship.
這項調查進行了經常性的環境測量，以及對浮游生物和海洋生物(像是魷魚)進行採樣，以作為海洋狀況和海洋生態系統狀況的指標。研究人員也部署了聲學設備，以接收鯨魚和海豚的發聲。該設備包括一個能夠漂浮著收聽優先保育物種聲音的拖曳式水聽器陣列，以及能夠自由漂浮的錄音設備，它可以用來監聽海面下100米處的海洋聲音，而不受研究船的噪音干擾。

In one mid-September report researchers recounted recording humpback whale songs once described as a “barnyard chorus.” They identified one humpback whale 0.2 nautical miles from the starboard side of the research vessel. After retrieving the hydrophone array so the vessel could better maneuver, researchers found they could hear the whale vocalizations in the open air.

在9月中旬的一份報告中，研究人員詳述了錄製座頭鯨的鯨歌，這些鯨歌被稱為如合唱團一般。他們從研究船的右舷一側0.2海里處發現了一頭座頭鯨。在取回水聽器陣列以便船隻可以更好地調動之後，研究人員發現他們即便不使用水聽器也可以聽到鯨魚的聲音。

“Out on the back deck we could actually hear, with our bare ears, the singing humpback whale just behind the boat on the starboard side,” they described. “Out in the open air, it is easy to understand how whale song has inspired decades of research and centuries of curiosity on cetacean vocalizations.”

他們描述：「我們真的可以在後面的甲板上用耳朵聽見座頭鯨正在右舷側的船後唱歌。在空中聽著這個歌聲，我們能夠理解為什麼鯨歌可以激起數十年的研究和幾世紀以來人類對鯨類發聲的好奇心。」

Reports from future legs of the survey will be posted as they become available. Please contact the Chief Scientist, Jay Barlow, for additional information. 

後續階段的調查報告將在完成時發布。請聯繫首席科學家 Jay Barlow，了解更多其他資訊。