How whales breathe, communicate ... and fart with their faces - Joy Reidenberg

譯者: Bernice Huang 審譯者: Adrienne Lin

Hi, everybody!

大家好，我是一位比較解剖學家

I am a comparative anatomist.

A comparative anatomist is someone who studies the structure of the body

而比較解剖學家的工作

就是研究各種不同動物的身體結構

of lots of different animals.

And my favorite animals are whales.

我最喜歡的動物是鯨魚

I like to study whales because they're so interesting.

我也喜歡研究鯨魚，因為牠們真的很有趣

They've adapted to a unique environment of living in the water.

鯨魚已經適應獨特的環境

可以生活在水中

And what I'm going to tell you about is how whales make sounds

而接下來我要分享的是

鯨魚如何發出聲音

by basically farting with their face.

基本上用牠們的臉部來排氣！

You know that they do this farting thing with their blowhole;

現在你已經知道牠們利用噴氣孔排氣

they blow out air like that,

牠們就像那樣噴出空氣

但牠們也運用空氣做其他的事

but they also use air in lots of other ways.

牠們利用它製造聲音

They use it for sound production, which is what I'll focus on,

這也是我接下來的重點

但我也研究鯨魚其他運用空氣的例子

but I also study other things they do with air,

像牠們如何防止空氣進入血流中

like keep it out of their bloodstream so they don't get bubbles,

才不會產生氣泡

這常發生在進行水肺潛水的人身上

which is what happens to human scuba divers

當他們潛水時出現減壓症狀

when they get decompression sickness.

But I'd like to start with the story

但現在我要回到正題

of how these animals make these farting noises,

開始說明鯨魚是如何發出排氣的聲音

and that story begins with understanding how hard it is to look at whales,

首先我們要知道

觀察鯨魚是一件多麼困難的事

because they live underwater and they're really big,

因為牠們生活在水中，體型又非常巨大

so they're hard animals to study.

所以研究鯨魚非常困難

And in this picture -- you see that animal in the middle?

就像這張照片，你看到中間那隻鯨魚了嗎？

That's a baby whale and it's already the size of a bus!

那是一隻鯨魚寶寶，牠已經和巴士一樣大了

When you look at whales, start with the top of their head

當你觀察鯨魚時

你必須從牠們的頭頂開始

because their nose is on the top of their head,

因為牠們的鼻子就在頭頂上

kind of like a built-in snorkel.

就像是內建的呼吸管

They breathe through that because they're mammals

鯨魚透過鼻子呼吸因為牠們是哺乳類

and mammals breathe air.

而哺乳類呼吸空氣

Their nose can be opened and closed,

事實上鯨魚的鼻子可以開合

as if you were to pinch it like this.

有點像我們這樣掐住鼻子

You can see it's open in the bottom frame, where the red arrows are.

你可以從最下方照片看到鼻子是開的

在紅色箭頭的位置

But not all whales have two nostrils.

但不是所有的鯨魚都有兩個鼻孔

Whales include the groups of dolphins and porpoises,

鯨目包括海豚科和鼠海豚科

and dolphins and porpoises, the small whales,

海豚和鼠海豚這些小型鯨魚

have only one nostril on the top of their head,

頭頂上都只有一個鼻孔

and they open and close that nostril

牠們打開或閉合鼻孔

by taking what is essentially an upper lip, like this,

靠拉提實質上是上唇的部位，像這樣

and turning it back over their nose, like this.

再折回去蓋住鼻子，像這樣

That's how they open and close their nose.

這就是牠們開合鼻子的方法

So when they make sounds,

所以當牠們發出聲音時

what they're basically doing is a raspberry,

牠們基本上是在做噗噗的動作

(Makes raspberry sound) which is kind of like a fart, right?

就像這樣－噗噗，有點像是放屁對吧？

Or up in New York, we call it a Bronx cheer.

或是在紐約我們稱為噓聲

And the way they do that

牠們發出聲音的方法

is by taking that big, fatty structure of a big fat lip,

是提高那個肥厚嘴唇的構造

which, as you can see here in this picture,

就像你們在這張照片看到的

which is a cut through the middle of a dolphin's head,

一道劃過海豚頭部中間的切口

that big fat lip is that big yellow portion there,

肥厚嘴唇就是那裡一大塊黃色的部分

and they roll it back and forth over the top of their nose

海豚在牠們的鼻子上來回翻動它

so that they vibrate it,

震動它

kind of like when you let the air out of a balloon

有點像你釋放氣球內的空氣

製造的那種奇怪振動聲

and it makes that weird vibration sound.

So this is what it sounds like when they make their noise:

當海豚發出聲音時聽起來像這樣：

（海豚聲）

(Vibration noise)

Hear it? He'll do it again when he faces the camera.

有聽到嗎？當牠面向攝影機時 會再發出一次那個聲音

（海豚聲）

(Vibration noise)

Sounds like it's farting underwater.

聽起來像牠在水中放屁

What that dolphin is actually doing, though, is echolocation,

事實上那海豚做的是回聲定位

which is making these series of pulses,

就是發出一連串的脈動

and it uses it like a bat uses sonar.

而牠運用它就像蝙蝠利用聲納一樣

Well, a bat uses radar, but when it's underwater it's sonar,

好吧，蝙蝠使用雷達，但在水下時它叫聲納

so this animal is using sonar to see its world in sound.

而這海豚正運用聲納來體會它聲音中的世界

Trying to understand how this works, you have to look at it

要試著去了解這是如何運作的

你必須去觀察它

as if you were looking at the amplifier speakers of a sound system.

就像在看音響系統中的擴音喇叭一樣

The small-toothed whales are basically the "tweeters,"

海豚基本上就像「高音喇叭」

and the sound is coming from that little nose

聲音來自那來回移動的小鼻子

that's moving back and forth and coming out of their forehead.

並從牠們的前額發出去

But the big whales are kind of like the "woofers,"

但如果你觀察大型鯨魚

牠們有點像「重低音喇叭」

the big speakers that you have in an amplifier system.

擴音系統中的大型揚聲器

And what's happening is their sound is coming out of the throat.

牠們的聲音是從喉嚨發出來的

So if you tried to make sound like a whale --

所以如果你試著發出像鯨魚一樣的聲音

make a sound right now, and go, "ahhhhhh."

你現在就發出聲音：

「啊」

OK, now put your hand on your throat, on your Adam's apple.

好，現在把你的手放在喉嚨上

在喉結上，你感覺到那裡的震動嗎？

You feel that vibration right there?

That is lost energy for you,

對你來說那是浪費力氣

because that's not how you communicate to everybody.

因為那不是你與他人溝通的方式

You do it out of the mouth.

你是用嘴巴發出聲音的

But if you open your mouth underwater, no one will hear you.

但如果你在水下張開嘴巴

沒有人能聽見你的聲音

You have to be able to take this energy and amplify it through the water.

你必須能用這股能量並透過水放大它

那就是鯨魚做的

That's what whales do.

And when you hear their sound --

而當你聽見牠們的聲音

(鯨魚聲)

(Squeaking sound)

it's kind of like when you squeak the air out of a balloon.

聽見了嗎？有點像你將空氣從氣球中擠出

所發出的嘎吱聲

So they get a lot of squeaky noises,

但牠們也有這樣的聲音：

but they also have this sound:

(Vibrating sound)

(鯨魚聲)

It sounds like it's farting, doesn't it?

聽起來像在放屁對嗎？

It's like it's got this giant whoopee cushion in its throat.

就像在牠的喉嚨裡 有一個巨大能發出聲音的軟墊

So, how do you know that's what a whale is doing?

但你如何知道那是鯨魚發出來的？

Well, we study whales that come to us from strandings.

我們研究那些因為擱淺送來我們這的鯨魚

These are animals that die on the beach.

那些死在海灘上的鯨魚

Small whales like dolphins and porpoises are easy;

那些小型鯨豚，像海豚和鼠海豚比較簡單

我們可以帶牠們回實驗室

we can take them to the lab.

But the big whales -- we've got to bring the lab to the whale.

但大型鯨魚，我們必須將實驗室移去牠們那裡

And this is what that looks like.

看起來像這樣

I'm the one in the middle with the red hat.

我是中間那個戴紅帽的人

I'm not a very tall person,

我不是一個很高的人

so you can see how big this whale was compared to me.

所以你可以看到比起我，鯨魚是多麼巨大

這鯨魚長65英呎，而我的解剖刀

The whale is 65 feet long.

And my scalpel is this little tool on the side here.

就是旁邊這個小工具

It basically looks like a hockey stick with a blade on the end of it.

它基本上看起來像一根曲棍球棒

在末端有一個刀片

And doing a dissection of a whale is a very difficult process.

解剖鯨魚是一個非常艱鉅的過程

You literally have to get into your work.

你就去做吧

It's kind of like a giant bloody construction zone.

它有點像個巨大的血腥建築工地

You're wearing a hard hat,

你正戴著安全帽

you're working with heavy machinery.

進行重型機械工作

In this case, by the way,

在這情況下，順道提一下

that's just the voice box of a blue whale.

那是一隻藍鯨的喉頭，僅僅喉頭的部位

Just the voice box.

I'm only five feet tall -- you can see it's like 12 feet long.

我只有五呎高，所以你可以發現

它像是12呎這麼長

How do we know what's going on?

我們如何知道發生什麼事？

我們觀察喉頭

Well, we look at the voice box, or larynx,

and we see -- this is from a baby whale so it's much smaller.

看看裡面

這是來自一隻鯨魚寶寶所以小多了

You see this little u-shaped thing I've outlined in blue.

你看到這小U形的東西

我用藍色勾勒出來的位置

That's the part that's vibrating.

那就是振動的部位

It's kind of like our vocal folds.

有點像我們的聲帶

When I put my hand in there, where that blue sleeve is,

而當我把手放在那裡面時

就是那藍色袖套的位置

you can see there's a sack underneath it.

你可以看到它下方有一個囊袋

那就是發出聲音的軟墊

That's the whoopee cushion.

That's the air bubble or the balloon.

就是氣泡或氣球

So what these animals are doing --

所以這些鯨魚做的是

你可以從這張照片看見

and you can see, there's this big black balloon in the throat,

在喉嚨裡有一個大大的黑色氣球

在那裡消化道，藍色的部份

where the digestive tract, which is in blue,

和呼吸道，淺藍色的部份，交會

meets the breathing tract, which is in light blue,

and right in the middle is that black sack.

所以你有了淺藍和深藍

而正中間的就是那黑色囊袋

These animals are using that sack to make these sounds.

鯨魚使用那囊袋來製造聲音

And so they vibrate that and send it out.

牠們振動它並發出聲音

Small-toothed whales also have air sacks; they're all over their heads,

海豚也有氣囊

遍及牠們整個頭部

so it's like they're airheads.

有點像裝滿空氣的頭部

They use this to capture as much air as they can

牠們用這來盡可能捕捉空氣

to take down with them when they're diving,

以便在潛水時把空氣一起帶下去

because when you dive, pressures increase,

因為潛水時，壓力增加

and that decreases the volume of air you have available.

導致可用的空氣量減少

But more importantly,

但更重要地，這囊袋使牠們能

having that sack allows them to recycle the air that they're using,

回收再利用牠們正在使用的空氣

because air is a precious commodity.

因為空氣是非常珍貴的物品

你不會想再回到水面上

You don't want to have to go back up to the surface to get more.

以獲取更多空氣

所以當你在水中製造聲音時

So when you make a sound underwater, if you're a whale --

假設你是一條鯨魚

let's hear you start making a sound, go "ahhhh."

開始發出聲音

「啊」

But whales keep their mouths closed, so go "ahhhmm."

但鯨魚是閉著嘴巴的，試著

(Audience makes noise)

（閉著嘴巴發出聲音）

You're all humming, right?

你們全都發出哼聲對嗎？

但鯨魚是蓋住鼻子的，試著

But whales keep their nose closed and go, "mmmm."

（捏住鼻子發聲）

(Makes noise)

What happened?

發生什麼事？ 一旦你捏著鼻子就發不出聲音了

You can't make the sound anymore once you close your nose

因為你對發聲系統施加壓力

because you've pressurized the system.

Whales, by having air sacks, keep themselves from pressurizing the system,

所以，鯨魚靠著氣囊

來避免對系統施加壓力

which means the air continues to flow,

意謂著空氣繼續流動

and so if you had a bag on the end of your nose,

所以假如你在鼻子末端有一個袋子

you'd be able to make air continue to flow.

你就能讓空氣繼續流動

So I hope you've enjoyed that.

希望你們喜歡

That's what a comparative anatomist does for a living.

那就是比較解剖學家謀生的工具

We study the structure of these animals.

我們研究動物的結構

我們試著去模擬它

We try to mimic it; we apply it back to the human situation,

再套用回去人類身上

maybe making new technologies for protective devices

也許為保護裝置發明新技術

也許為醫藥發明新療法

or maybe even making new treatments for medicines

for people's diseases who mimic these weird environments.

為人類疾病模擬這些不尋常的環境

So I hope you enjoyed that. Thank you.

希望你們喜歡。謝謝。

(Applause)