Late August, in Alaska. On a chilly morning, out in the deep waters of Chatham strait, Whale breath hangs in the air. Alaska's Humpbacks are hungry for herring. This is lunge or bubble net feeding, an unusual cooperative hunting technique. It all starts when a pod of whales dives deep under a school of fish. They form a circle, and blow their breath out in a simultaneous cascade, a net of bubbles.

"These humpbacks, they split into specialized tasks. You've got some that blow the bubbles, other individuals that go down and herd the prey toward to the surface. And other individuals that scream / these incredibly beautiful and hunting sounds, to clump the prey up and force them up towards the surface into the confines of the bubble net. And they all get together in a group and they can charge out through this tunneled bubbles almost like missiles coming up through a silo, and then engulf the prey in their huge mouths at the surface. It's an incredible feeding event.

Using National Geographic's Crittercam System, scientists can record the whales as they feed. But first, how do you get it on.

"The system itself sits on a suction cup. You know we are out on a small boat that bouncing around in the waves trying to get close to very big animals. And we do that for five hours at a time, just to get to the point we are rushly close enough.

Under the surface, amazing things are happening, and Crittercam is recording everything.

Through the murky water, We see what the whale sees diving to the bottom, blowing the bubble net, rocketing to the surface for a huge mouthful of herring. The video may be greenish and grainy, but to these researchers it's pure gold.

Well, perhaps the biggest prize of this project again is gaining insight into how humans can be better stewards to the oceans. To this day, the humpback whale remains one of the most critically endangered large whales. And that's the objective of the Crittercam project and the Alaska whale foundation is to gather important information about these whales, and then share, so we can co-exist peacefully with these magnificent animals. "

看不太懂啊
斑竹能给个中文吗？

Quote:

引用第2楼Optimist于2006-09-29 11:03发表的:
看不太懂啊
斑竹能给个中文吗？

.........你的英语好......麻烦帮忙翻译了嘛呵呵