Mom will teach her hundreds of sounds.
女儿三岁时 它会决定是留在妈妈身边
When the daughter is three, she will decide to stay with mom,
还是自己出去闯荡
or head out on her own.
无论最后它如何决定
No matter where she ends up, every year, she will keep her promise,
每年它都会遵守承诺
返回坎宁安湾
and return to Cunningham Inlet.
这并非本能使然 而是从小接受的教育
It’s not instinct but something she was taught.
这是白鲸的文化
This is culture.
其他白鲸家族有不同的仪式
Other beluga clans have different rituals,
也有不同的出生地要返回
and different birthplaces to return to.
南方1600公里外的一个家乡
One hometown, a thousand miles south,
以令人难以置信的方式挑战着白鲸
challenges belugas in incredible ways.
哈德逊湾
加拿大的哈德逊湾
Canada’s Hudson Bay,
比五大湖加起来还要大五倍
five times larger than all of the Great Lakes combined.
这对白鲸母子 必须跨越哈德逊湾的重重危险
This mom and son must navigate the Hudson’s many dangers.
潮水在几小时内上涨了8米多
Tides swell more than 25 feet in a matter of hours.
环境一直在变化
Always changing. . .
数不尽的危险
countless hazards. . .
浅滩和沙洲
. . . shallows and sandbars.
况且现在是高峰期
And it’s rush hour.
世界上超过三分之一的白鲸 涌到这里避暑
More than a third of the world’s belugas summer here. . .
多达五万五千头
as many as 55, 000 animals.
妈妈的小儿子可不想迷路
Mom’s young boy doesn’t want to get lost.
它们终于到达传统的家乡海豹河
They finally arrive at their traditional family home, Seal River.
但它们的快乐是短暂的
But their joy is short-lived.
北极熊聚集在海豹河中
Polar bears swarm Seal River.
随着冬季的冰雪消融后 它们有两个选择 要么饿肚子
With winter’s ice gone, they have two choices. Go hungry. . .
要么想办法找吃的
or get creative.
这头巨型公熊找到了完美的歇脚处
This big male finds the perfect perch. . .
就在白鲸的行进路线上
. . . right in the belugas’ path.
妈妈用声呐锁定黑暗中的威胁
Mom uses sonar to locate threats in the murk.
但在水外面 北极熊是看不见的
But, out of the water, the bear is invisible.
它能做的只有等待
All he has to do, is wait.
白鲸妈妈清楚溅起的水花
Mom knows that splash.
那代表行动 而且是快速行动
It means move, and fast.
北极熊每小时只能游10公里
Bears can only swim six miles an hour.
白鲸几乎能游32公里
Belugas, almost twenty.
它们通过大声鼓动下巴
They sound the alarm to others. . .
向其他同伴发出警报
. . . with loud jaw claps.
但它们还未脱离危险
But they’re not out of danger yet.
当它们冲过沙洲时 另一头受惊的白鲸加入它们
Another frightened beluga joins them as they race over a sandbar.
潮水退得太快了
The tide drops too fast.
这头幼鲸顺利通过了
The youngster makes it across. . .
但它妈妈和另一头成年白鲸却搁浅了
but the mom and the other adult beluga are stuck.
在骚动中 那头雄性幼鲸走散了
In the commotion, the young male is separated.
没有了妈妈的乳汁和保护
Without mom’s milk and her protection,
这头幼崽独自在外 根本没有存活的机会
this baby doesn’t stand a chance out here alone.
妈妈能够在1. 6公里外 听到幼崽的哭声
She can hear his cries from a third of a mile away.
在水下 人类的耳朵 无法分辨声音来自哪里
Underwater, human ears can’t tell where sounds comes from.
但白鲸是通过口部传声的
But belugas channel sound through their jaws.
毫不夸张地说 这头白鲸妈妈
This mother, quite literally,
能感觉到自己的幼崽在哭
feels her babies cries.
然而它对此却无能为力
And she can do nothing about it.
抑或它能采取行动吗?
Or. . . can she?
白鲸妈妈终于脱身了
Finally, mom is free.
与它一起那头稍微更大的白鲸则不然
The slightly larger beluga with her is not.
妈妈循着幼崽的呼喊声
Mom immediately retraces her steps. . .
迅速往回赶
. . . listening for her son’s calls.
但声音却停止了
But they’ve stopped.
每位母亲都惧怕不堪设想的事
Every mother fears the unthinkable.
它大声呼喊幼崽
She cries out for him.
只盼着它能认出妈妈的呼喊声
Mom can only hope he recognizes her call.
它在那里
There he is.
幼崽记住了妈妈传授的东西
Her son remembered what he was taught.
它们共同的呼喊声救了幼崽的命
Their shared call has saved his life.
这是一头非常幸运的幼鲸
This is a very lucky young whale.
搁浅的那头白鲸则没这样的好运
The beluga left stranded is not.
它的牺牲却成全了这头北极熊
Now, a sacrifice so this bear can survive.
对海豹河的这番介绍透着艰辛
A hard introduction to Seal River.
但却给幼鲸上了宝贵的一课
But a valuable lesson for the young son.
待它三岁左右离开妈妈身边时
By the time he leaves his mom around the age of three,
这个地方将深深地印在它记忆中
this place will be deeply imprinted in his memory.
它会知道这个海岸的大部分秘密
He’ll know most of this shore’s secrets. . .
和这里出没的生物
and its creatures.
包括其他鲸鱼
Including other whales.
附近的
Nearby. . .
遥远的陌生人
far stranger. . .
和更加难以捉摸的物种
and more elusive.
兰开斯特海峡
这个位于加拿大兰开斯特海峡的 北极入口
This frozen Arctic Inlet in Canada’s Lancaster Sound
冰天雪地下藏着一个秘密
holds a secret.
下面处处充满了生命
Life is everywhere below.
即便连冰本身都是活的
Even the ice itself is alive. . .
因为有这种掘冰的甲壳类动物 也叫片脚类动物
with ice-burrowing crustaceans called amphipods.
这里出产世界上 最稀有的其中一种鲸鱼
This is home for one of the world’s rarest whales. . .
一角鲸
the narwhal.
我们知道一角鲸和白鲸有交集
We know narwhals cross paths with belugas
并且共享觅食地
and share feeding grounds.
两种鲸鱼 每天都要吃23到27公斤的海洋食物
They both eat fifty to sixty pounds of seafood a day. . .
但一角鲸潜得更深 会再往水下1. 6公里多
but narwhals dive deeper,
more than a mile down, to hunt bottom-dwelling fish.
去捕猎栖息在海底的鱼类
最明显的区别
And the most obvious difference. . .
就是那根巨型长牙
that giant tusk.
一角鲸传说中的角 实际上是一根又长又敏感的牙齿
The narwhals’ legendary horn is actually a long sensitive tooth.
部分雌鲸和所有雄鲸 都会长出这根牙齿
Some females and all the males grow them.
它们仅有两根牙 这是其中一根
It’s one of only two teeth they have.
而它们如何使用这根牙齿 则一直是个谜
And exactly how it’s used has been a mystery. . .
至今未能破解
until now.
一根巨型一角鲸长牙 代表一名能生育的配偶
A big narwhal tusk means a fertile mate.
但这头雄鲸透出的不仅仅是雄性气概
But this male reveals there’s more to it than virility.
它瞄准了鱼
He has fish in his sights.
长牙一挥 猎物就被击昏了
A quick flick of the tusk stuns the prey.
无人知晓它们多久这样捕猎一次
No one knows how often they hunt like this.
这只增添了它们的神秘感
It only adds to their mystery.
看幼鲸的进食方式 也让人觉得难以捉摸
And seeing how a baby eats has been just as elusive.
幼鲸还不能吃固体食物
Babies can’t yet eat solid food, so this mom provides all the calories
所以这头鲸鱼妈妈 会在女儿出生的头20个月内
提供所有的卡路里
for her daughter’s first 20 months.
这是一角鲸哺乳的图像 首次被捕捉下来
This is the first time narwhal nursing has been captured on film.
《国家地理》的鲸鱼摄影师 布赖恩·斯克里在追踪它们
National Geographic whale photographer Brian Skerry tracks them,
并发现了一种熟悉的亲密关系
and sees a familiar intimacy.
它们相互爱护 相互扶持
They love and nurture each other,
这样的关系帮助它们度过困境
and it’s this bond that helps them survive difficult situations.
在很多方面 一角鲸和白鲸很像
In a lot of ways, they’re just like belugas.
跟人类也很像
And a lot like us.
跟白鲸一样 一角鲸也会进行一趟迁徙之旅
Also like belugas, narwhals make a journey. . .
这是它们数千年来的传统
as they have for thousands of years.
每年春季时 这个鲸群会迁徙1300公里
Every spring, this group migrates eight hundred miles
从加拿大的巴芬湾到西边水位更浅
from Canada’s Baffin Bay to more shallow, warmer waters in the west.
也更温暖的水域
至少在一种情况下
And in at least one case, that’s where these two whale species may merge
这两种鲸鱼可能会以最奇特的方式
融合在一起
in the most peculiar way.
就从这头任性的一角鲸幼鲸开始
It begins with this young wayward narwhal.
它脱离了鲸群
He split off from his pod.
现在它迷路了
And now, he’s lost.
它独自游了好几个星期
He travels alone for weeks.
一次又一次错误转弯 把它带到一处陌生水域
Wrong turn after wrong turn brings him to a strange waters.
这里没有其他一角鲸
There are no other narwhals here.
离得最近的一头也在970公里外
The closest one is now 600 miles away.
它不知道这个区域要去哪里捕食 也不懂捕食方法
He has no idea where to hunt in this area, or how.
但它并不孤单
But he is not totally alone.
一群白鲸靠近了

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