時差N小時:普吉灣七只逆戟鯨失蹤

Seven Puget Sound killer whales are missing andpresumed dead in what could be the biggestdecline among the sound's orcas in nearly adecade, say scientists who carefully track theendangered animals.

七頭逆戟鯨在普吉特海灣失蹤。據(jù)推測，它們已經(jīng)死亡。跟蹤調(diào)查則這一瀕危物種的科學(xué)家說，這是該海域近10年來發(fā)生的最大規(guī)模的逆戟鯨死亡事件。

"This is a disaster," Ken Balcomb, a senior scientistat the Center for Whale Research on San Juan Island,said.

“這是一場災(zāi)難”，圣胡安島鯨魚研究中心的資深科學(xué)家肯-巴爾科姆這樣說道。

While the official census won't be completed until December, the total number of live "southernresident" orcas now stands at 83.

官方對逆戟鯨數(shù)量的普查要到12月 才能完成。這些 “南部居民”的總數(shù)如今大約是83頭。

Among those missing since last year's count are the nearly century-old leader of one of thethree southern resident pods, and two young females who recently bore calves. The loss of theseven whales would be the biggest decline among the Puget Sound orcas since 1999, when thecenter also tracked a decline of seven whales.

自去年以來，失蹤者中包括三大“南部居民”群體之一中的一個首領(lǐng)，它已經(jīng)將近100歲了;還有兩頭是最近才產(chǎn)下幼崽的年輕雌鯨。這七頭逆戟鯨的失蹤是普吉特海灣自1999年以來發(fā)生的最大規(guī)模的逆戟鯨死亡事件，當(dāng)時的1999年圣胡安島鯨魚研究中心還跟蹤到另外七頭逆戟鯨失蹤。

Low numbers of chinook salmon, a prime food for these whales, may be a factor in theunusual number of deaths this year, Balcomb said.

作為逆戟鯨主要食物來源的鮭魚數(shù)量的下降可能是今年逆戟鯨不正常死亡的一個因素，巴爾科姆說。