研究显示，马里亚纳群岛一半的鲸鱼搁浅都发生在军事声纳测试后的几天内

研究显示，马里亚纳群岛一半的鲸鱼搁浅都发生在军事声纳测试后的几天内

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).

一项新的研究进一步证明，使用声纳的军事演习对鲸鱼来说可能是致命的。在《英国皇家学会学报B辑》上发表的一项研究中，研究人员将马里亚纳群岛的数起搁浅事件与海军潜艇作业中使用的中频主动声纳(MFAS)联系起来。

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种深海鲸目动物的喙鲸特别容易受到MFAS的影响。这项研究的重点是马里亚纳群岛，自2006年以来，几乎每年都有一些国家组织在那里进行MFAS测试。

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."

作者在他们的论文中写道，“1962年至2006年期间，马里亚纳群岛没有报道过喙鲸搁浅事件，但从2007年至2019年1月，关岛和塞班岛报道了8起喙鲸搁浅事件(10-11只个体)。”

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.

研究小组发现，从2006年6月到2019年1月的8起突吻鲸搁浅事件中，有一半发生在MFAS演习后的6天内。四个事件本身可能不重要，但它增加了大量的案例文献。自上世纪60年代最惠国待遇在4.5至5.5千赫之间引入以来，已经有12条突吻鲸的大规模搁浅被与最惠国待遇演习联系在一起，另有27条其他大规模搁浅被发现在海军基地或舰艇附近。

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，所有大规模搁浅中有9%是由于使用了MFAS的海军行动，但作者认为这是一个保守的估计，因为之前的研究只关注多种动物搁浅。在马里亚纳群岛，大多数搁浅是单个的(8个中的6个)，其中2个与MFAS有关。

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.

海军演习之所以如此有害，一个可能的原因是，它会产生一些罕见的、不可预测的噪音，吓到动物。先前的研究已经表明，喙鲸有意避开意想不到的MFAS远近。甚至住在海军基地附近的喙鲸(据说更习惯于人类制造的声音)在MFAS启动后也改变了他们的习惯。

"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.

“在马里亚纳群岛周围的水域，相对于生活在高噪音环境或已经习惯于频繁的MFAS活动的群体，不频繁的声呐活动以及安静的环境噪音水平可能会增加喙鲸对声呐行为反应的严重性。”作者写道。

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."

该小组的建议很简单:“我们强烈建议在海军演习之前、期间和之后，在海上和海岸线上对搁浅的鲸类动物进行更多的视觉监测。”