cover of episode Do Sperm Whales Talk to Each Other?

Do Sperm Whales Talk to Each Other?

2024/6/26
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Brooke Gladstone
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Shane Gero
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Shane Gero：抹香鲸拥有巨大的大脑，其生活方式与人类截然不同。它们使用复杂的语音字母表进行交流，该字母表由一系列点击组成，可以组合成超过150种不同的密码。这些密码可以改变节奏和时长，类似于人类语言中的音素组合成单词。在研究抹香鲸交流的内容之前，必须先理解其交流结构，包括最小发音单元的组合方式以及上下文信息。抹香鲸社会结构分层，存在家族和氏族，不同氏族之间存在方言差异，这类似于人类的文化认同。由于海洋环境的开放性，抹香鲸的‘文化边界’概念比陆地动物更重要。尽管抹香鲸的交流可能只是简单的‘音乐’，而非信息传递，但其结构与人类语言有很多相似之处。研究抹香鲸语言有助于理解人类语言和鲸鱼对世界的感知，最终目标是翻译它们的语言，并最终与它们进行交流。抹香鲸的文化多样性及其对家庭的重视与人类社会有相似之处，这在保护工作中具有重要意义。保护抹香鲸的关键在于改变人类的行为，而不是向海洋中添加更多声音。 Brooke Gladstone：理解抹香鲸的语言可能是拯救它们的第一步。罗杰·佩恩对座头鲸歌声的发现改变了公众对鲸类的认知，促进了对鲸类的保护。尽管人类不再主动捕杀鲸鱼，但人类活动仍然对鲸鱼构成威胁。Digit的故事说明了人类活动对抹香鲸的影响，也突显了讲述科学故事与传播科学同样重要。成功的保护运动需要触动人心的图像、事实或个体识别，以及科学家积极参与公众沟通。成功的保护运动需要与公众产生共鸣，强调文化多样性和家庭的重要性。科学家需要接受沟通技巧的培训，才能有效地向公众传播科学知识。研究抹香鲸的语言具有超越科学本身的意义，它能够促进人们对海洋的关注。抹香鲸可能具有比我们想象中更高的认知能力和意识。

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This week, we turn away from the media for a moment, to a realm thousands of feet beneath the ocean’s surface – where sperm whales swim. These behemoths spend most of their lives in complete darkness, surfacing only for a few minutes at a time. They have the largest brains of virtually any other creature on earth, and they grow to be the size of one school bus, even two – and weigh as much as ten of them. But despite leading wildly different lives, scientists say they may communicate with each other – much like we do. 

In May, scientists at CETI), or Cetacean Translation Initiative, published a study claiming that they use a complex phonetic alphabet that echoes the structures of human languages. This week, host Brooke Gladstone speaks with Shane Gero), a biologist focusing on the acoustic complexity and social behavior of whales and Biology Lead at CETI, about this phonetic alphabet, and how it might be the first of many steps that could lead to translating what these sea giants are saying – and saving their lives. 

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