2005年NPR美国国家公共电台三月-Beached Dolphins May Be Related to Sonar

Marine¹ Biologists and volunteers in Key Largo² are working to save the survivors³ of a group of dolphins that beached themselves last week in the Florida Keys.

Invesigators are trying to determine if sonar from a nuclear-powered submarine played a role. Shannon Novak, of member station WLRM reports.

At the marine mammal conservancy in Key Largo, Florida, in a fenced-off shallow portion of the beach, eight volunteers are in a large cycle around some of the rescued dolphins. The volunteers are necessary because sick or injured dolphins are often unable to hold themselves up. They sink or roll and can drown when their blowhole is submerged. It often takes more than one person to hold the animal upright. Lloyd Brown is vice⁴ president of the conservancy.

Since we brought them here, we've been doing diagnostic tests on them to try to determine what the problem is, how we can develop a plan of action to treat whatever this problem might be. The biggest responsibility that we have right now is that we have a bunch of sick animals that need their lives saved.

Many of the dolphins are females or babies. One of the challenges, Brown says, has been three miscarriages⁵ since the stranding⁶.

That baby died because of the complications.The mother could not deliver the baby. She got it all the way out to the shoulders and couldn't push it out any more. So the baby was half-in-half-out in the cold water, and after a couple of hours the baby died.

Since about eighty dolphins began beaching off Marathon/ Key,on March the 2nd, volunteers were able to help many healthy animals back into deeper water. The rest were loaded into refrigerated trucks and moved to three locations. Since then, twenty-three of the dolphins have died. Half of those were euthanized. Rough-tooth dolphins live in very deep water and experts don't know why this group beach themselves. A US navy submarine was conducting a training exercise in the area and this past weekend the navy began looking into the possibility that the submarine's sonar could be the cause.

Lieutenant⁷ Commander Jensin Sommer:"On February 28th, while on the ocean surface and then reduced visibility.US-Philadelphia used its mid-frequency active sonar to provide for the submarine's ability to avoid potential contact with other vessel⁸ that be.US-Philadelphia also used its high frequency active sonar, prior to surfacing to avoid potential contact with other ships that be on February 27th,March 1st and 2nd."

But marine biologists also point out that marine mammals beaching themselves is a naturally occuring event.So Lestt Whimer of the Florida wildlife rescue team says they are investigating all possible causes.

We've had people doing necropsies which is the animal autopsy⁹ on the animals that have passed and , for sure, look at the ear bones and see if ear bones are ruptured¹⁰ because that's a big sign that there's been some kind of sonar testing and they noticed that and beat, well, sort of stranded¹¹ before, during navy sonar testing.Maybe there will be weeks ,maybe a couple of months before we might have an answer.

Whimer says Dolphins are like people,some are followers¹² and some are leaders.And if a leader becomes ill and beaches itself,the others will likely follow.Authorities will continue researching what caused this stranding.It is expected that most of the dolphins will be released back into the ocean as soon as they are well enough.For NPR news, I am Shannon Novak .

1 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

2 largo   

n.广板乐章；adj.缓慢的，宽广的；adv.缓慢地，宽广地

参考例句：

• The tempo marking in most cases is andante,adagio,or largo.大多数第一乐章的速度标记是行板、柔板或广板。
• The second movement is a largo.第二乐章是广板乐章。

3 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

4 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

5 miscarriages   

流产( miscarriage的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Miscarriages are usually caused by abnormal chromosome patterns in the fetus. 流产通常是因为胎儿的染色体异常造成的。
• Criminals go unpunishedareconvicted and are miscarriages of justice. 罪犯会逍遥法外，法律会伤及无辜，审判不公时有发生。

6 stranding   

n.（船只）搁浅v.使滞留，使搁浅( strand的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The airport had to be closed, stranding tourists. 机场被迫关闭，造成游客滞留。 来自辞典例句
• The stream of history had changed course away from him, stranding him in failure. 历史潮流已经改变方向，与他背道而驰，使他陷于失败之中。 来自辞典例句

7 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

8 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

9 autopsy   

n.尸体解剖；尸检

参考例句：

• They're carrying out an autopsy on the victim.他们正在给受害者验尸。
• A hemorrhagic gut was the predominant lesion at autopsy.尸检的主要发现是肠出血。

10 ruptured   

v.（使）破裂( rupture的过去式和过去分词 )；（使体内组织等）断裂；使（友好关系）破裂；使绝交

参考例句：

• They reported that the pipeline had ruptured. 他们报告说管道已经破裂了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The wall through Berlin was finally ruptured, prefiguring the reunification of Germany. 柏林墙终于倒塌了，预示着德国的重新统一。 来自辞典例句

11 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

12 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。