研究顯示，馬里亞納群島一半的鯨魚擱淺都發(fā)生在軍事聲納測試后的幾天內

研究顯示，馬里亞納群島一半的鯨魚擱淺都發(fā)生在軍事聲納測試后的幾天內

New research adds to the bank of evidence that suggests military exercises involving sonar can be deadly for whales. In a study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, researchers have linked several stranding events in the Mariana Archipelago to naval submarine operations involving mid-frequency active sonar (MFAS).

一項新的研究進一步證明，使用聲納的軍事演習對鯨魚來說可能是致命的。在《英國皇家學會學報B輯》上發(fā)表的一項研究中，研究人員將馬里亞納群島的數起擱淺事件與海軍潛艇作業(yè)中使用的中頻主動聲納(MFAS)聯系起來。

Beaked whales, a group containing 23 species of deep-diving cetaceans, are particularly susceptible to MFAS. The work focused on the Mariana Archipelago, where MFAS tests have been conducted by groups of nations almost every year since 2006.

有23種深海鯨目動物的喙鯨特別容易受到MFAS的影響。這項研究的重點是馬里亞納群島，自2006年以來，幾乎每年都有一些國家組織在那里進行MFAS測試。

Alfredo Carpineti

As the authors wrote in their paper, "no beaked whale strandings were reported from the Mariana Archipelago between 1962 and 2006, but from 2007 to January 2019, eight beaked whale stranding events (10-11 individuals) have been reported on Guam and Saipan."

作者在他們的論文中寫道，“1962年至2006年期間，馬里亞納群島沒有報道過喙鯨擱淺事件，但從2007年至2019年1月，關島和塞班島報道了8起喙鯨擱淺事件(10-11只個體)。”

The team found that half of the eight beaked whale stranding events from June 2006 until January 2019 happened within six days of the MFAS exercises. Four events might not seem significant on its own but it adds to an extensive literature of cases. Since MFAS between 4.5 and 5.5 kHz were introduced in the 1960s, 12 beaked whale mass strandings have been linked to MFAS exercises and 27 other mass strandings have been witnessed near a naval base or ship.

研究小組發(fā)現，從2006年6月到2019年1月的8起突吻鯨擱淺事件中，有一半發(fā)生在MFAS演習后的6天內。四個事件本身可能不重要，但它增加了大量的案例文獻。自上世紀60年代最惠國待遇在4.5至5.5千赫之間引入以來，已經有12條突吻鯨的大規(guī)模擱淺被與最惠國待遇演習聯系在一起，另有27條其他大規(guī)模擱淺被發(fā)現在海軍基地或艦艇附近。

Previous research suggests that 9 percent of all mass strandings are due to naval operations where MFAS are in use, but the authors consider this a conservative estimate as prior studies only focused on the strandings of multiple animals. In the Mariana Archipelago, most of the strandings were of a single individual (six out of eight) and two of them were associated with MFAS.

之前的研究表明，所有大規(guī)模擱淺中有9%是由于使用了MFAS的海軍行動，但作者認為這是一個保守的估計，因為之前的研究只關注多種動物擱淺。在馬里亞納群島，大多數擱淺是單個的(8個中的6個)，其中2個與MFAS有關。

One possible reason for why the naval exercises might be so detrimental is the production of noises that are infrequent and unpredictable, scaring the animals. Previous research has shown that beaked whales purposely avoid unexpected MFAS both near and far. Even beaked whales living near naval bases (and supposedly more accustomed to human-made sound production) changed their habits when MFAS was switched on.

海軍演習之所以如此有害，一個可能的原因是，它會產生一些罕見的、不可預測的噪音，嚇到動物。先前的研究已經表明，喙鯨有意避開意想不到的MFAS遠近。甚至住在海軍基地附近的喙鯨(據說更習慣于人類制造的聲音)在MFAS啟動后也改變了他們的習慣。

"In the waters surrounding the Mariana Archipelago, the infrequent sonar activity, in conjunction with quiet ambient noise levels, may increase the severity in the behavioural response of beaked whales to sonar compared to populations living with higher ambient noise levels or those which have become habituated to frequent MFAS activity," wrote the authors.

“在馬里亞納群島周圍的水域，相對于生活在高噪音環(huán)境或已經習慣于頻繁的MFAS活動的群體，不頻繁的聲吶活動以及安靜的環(huán)境噪音水平可能會增加喙鯨對聲吶行為反應的嚴重性。”作者寫道。

The team's recommendations are simple: “We strongly recommend more visual monitoring efforts, at sea and along coastlines, for stranded cetaceans before, during and after naval exercises."

該小組的建議很簡單:“我們強烈建議在海軍演習之前、期間和之后，在海上和海岸線上對擱淺的鯨類動物進行更多的視覺監(jiān)測。”