(单词翻译:单击)
Back in 1996, I made a very special friend who lived in a bay in Nova Scotia Canada.
1996年,我交了一个非常特别的朋友,她住在加拿大新斯科舍省的一个海湾里 。
Her name was Wilma and she was a beautiful white Beluga whale.
她的名字叫威尔玛,是一头美丽的白鲸 。
Hi, I'm Jonathan Bird and welcome to my world!
嗨,我是乔纳森·伯德,欢迎来到我的世界!
Beluga whales normally live in the arctic.
白鲸通常生活在北极 。
The white coloration helps them blend in to sea ice.
白色的着色有助于它们融入海冰之中 。
Guysboro, Nova Scotia is a long way from the arctic.
新斯科舍的圭斯伯勒距离北极很远 。
This rural fishing village is a lovely quiet place where the people are friendly...
这个乡下的渔村是个优美安静的地方,这里的人们很友好...
It's beautiful, peaceful and pretty far away from everything.
它美丽、宁静、远离一切 。
People go there in the summer time just to get away...enjoy breathtaking scenery...maybe play a little golf.
人们在夏天去那里只是为了度假……享受惊艳的风景……或者打个高尔夫球 。
And for a time at least, they went to see Wilma, a beluga that had taken up residence.
而且他们至少会花一段时间去看威尔玛——一头曾住在这里的白鲸 。
I went there in 1996 to see her as well, and what I found amazed me.
1996年我也去那里见了她,我的发现让我吃惊 。
Every day dozens of people came out onto Chedabucto Bay to catch a glimpse of Wilma,
每天都有许多人来到切达布托湾,只为一睹威尔玛的风采,
who had become a local celebrity.
她成了当地的名人 。
She became so popular that people were afraid a boat might hit her or cut her with its propeller.
她变得如此受欢迎,以至于人们害怕船可能会撞到她或用它的螺旋桨割伤她 。
Wilma was such an attraction that some people started "Wilma watching" trips for tourists.
威尔玛非常吸引人,以至于有人开始为旅客提供“威尔玛观光”旅行 。
Despite the concerns, it was pretty obvious that Wilma loved the attention.
尽管有这些担忧,但很明显,威尔玛很喜欢这种关注 。
She loved to play, and seemed just like a puppy dog to a lot of people.
她喜欢玩耍,对很多人来说,她就像一只小狗 。
She gave more than one swimmer a surprise...but never hurt anyone.
她给了很多游泳者惊喜,却从不会伤害任何人
She lifting you right out of the water?
她把你从水里抬起来了是吧?
Yeah! And Wilma seemed to like everyone from swimmers to snorkelers to divers.
没错!威尔玛似乎喜欢每一个人,从游泳者到浮潜者再到潜水员,她都喜欢 。
HAHA. She's like "Out of the camera, this is my shot!"
哈哈!她就像“从镜头里出来,这是我的镜头!”
She was very young when she showed up in the bay.
她出现在海湾时还很年轻 。
She still had a lot of growing to do.
她仍然有很多成长空间 。
As an adult Wilma could be ten feet long and weigh almost three-thousand pounds, as much as a small car.
成年的威尔玛可能有10英尺长,近3000磅重,和一辆小汽车一样重 。
No one knows why she came here.
没有人知道她来这里的原因 。
Perhaps something happened to her mother and she was orphaned.
也许她母亲出了什么事,她成了孤儿 。
Perhaps she became lost and separated from her pod.
也许她迷失了方向,与她的群体分开了 。
She was all alone, but she found friends in Nova Scotia.
她孤零零的,但她在新斯科舍找到了朋友 。
Belugas are known to be playful and pretty social.
众所周知,白鲸是一种爱玩并且社交性很强的动物 。
They often live together in large pods of 25 members or more.
它们经常一起生活在一个25名或者更多成员的大群体里 。
So it must have been tough for Wilma, without another Beluga whale nearby to hang out with and play.
所以威尔玛过去肯定很艰难,附近没有另一条白鲸和它一起玩耍 。
She seemed to welcome people as a substitute for interaction with her own kind.
她似乎欢迎人们作为替代品,代替同类与自己互动 。
One of those people was Jim Johnson, arguably her best friend.
其中一个替代品就是吉姆·约翰逊,他可以说是她最好的朋友 。
Jim was a local diver and underwater photographer,
吉姆是当地的潜水员和水下摄影师,
and for a while, he and Wilma were spending a lot of time together.
有一段时间,他和威尔玛很长时间都待在一起 。
Jim was one of the first people to spot Wilma.
吉姆是最早发现威尔玛的人之一 。
He saw her one day, a lonely little whale hanging out by a buoy in the bay.
他在某一天看到了她,一头孤独的小鲸在海湾的一个浮标旁晃荡 。
He went out to visit her in his little inflatable boat, and they became great friends.
他坐着充气小船去看她,他们成了好朋友 。
It was Jim who introduced me to Wilma...
吉姆把我介绍给了威尔玛...
And I remember the first time I saw her.
我还记得我第一次见到她的情景 。
In all my years of diving, I've never known a marine animal that seemed to have so much interest in me.
在我多年的潜水生涯中,从未见过任何一种海洋动物对我如此感兴趣 。
She truly seemed to enjoy my company and played for hours.
她似乎真的很喜欢我的陪伴,我们玩了好几个小时 。
Belugas are one of the few species of whales that can turn their heads.
白鲸是为数不多能转头的鲸类之一 。
Wilma would look at me and follow me.
威尔玛会看着我,跟着我 。
Some researchers think that Belugas communicate with each other through facial expressions.
一些研究人员认为白鲸通过面部表情进行交流 。
I think she was trying to communicate with me.
我觉得她是想和我交流 。
She was asking me to come play with her.
她要我和她一起玩 。
And Wilma also talked quite a bit...she made all kinds of noises.
威尔玛也说了很多话……她发出各种各样的声音 。
Researchers think that Belugas use these sounds to communicate with one another,
研究人员认为白鲸利用这些声音相互交流,
although no one really knows what they're saying.
虽然没人真正知道它们在说什么 。
Although most Beluga whales live further north in the Arctic and her presence in Nova Scotia was highly unusual,
虽然大多数白鲸生活在北极更北的地方,而她出现在新斯科舍极不寻常,
Wilma had almost everything she needed here.
但威尔玛在这儿几乎什么都有 。