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You've probably heard parrots parrot human speech. But what about this? That strange kazooing sound is from a whale.
你可能听说过鹦鹉学舌。但你听说过白鲸也会模仿奇怪的卡祖笛声吗？
It's a captive beluga whale named NOC. And researchers say it's his attempt to mimic the sound of humans talking.
这是一头被铺的白鲸，它名叫NOC。研究人员说，它试图模仿人类的谈话声。
Back in 1984 a diver at the National Marine Mammal Foundation surfaced from the whale tank, and said, "Who told me to get out?" Turns out, no one did. Well, no human did. The "out" sound came from NOC the whale.
追溯到1984年，一名国家海洋哺乳动物基金会的潜水员从鲸鱼坦克中浮出水面，问是谁让他出来？事实证明，没有人让他出来。他听到的“出来”来自于白鲸 NOC。
When researchers compared recordings of NOC to human speech, they found that the rhythm of his utterings indeed matched that of humans. So did the pitch, at several octaves lower than the whales' usual clicks and whistles. NOC made these 'human' sounds by tweaking the pressures in his nasal cavity, and stretching a pair of vibrating lip-like structures within his blowhole. Their research appears in the journal Current Biology.
当研究人员把 NOC 的录音与人类的声音进行比较时，发现它的发音节奏与人类的相匹配。音高也一样，只不过有几处声音的振幅比白鲸平时的敲击声和鸣叫声要低。NOC 通过用鼻腔调整压力，在喷气孔拉伸一对类唇结构而发出“人”声。他们的研究刊登在《当代生物学》期刊上。
For centuries, sailors have called belugas "sea canaries," for their musical squeaks and chirps. But this beluga turned out to be less canary and more parrot.
几世纪以来，水手们一直称白鲸为“海上金丝雀”，因为它们的叫声悦耳动听。不过白鲸似乎像鹦鹉的地方更多一点。
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