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This is Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Jason Goldman.
Male humpback whales are the concert singers of the marine world. These ocean giants belt out tunes that can be heard perhaps hundreds of miles away. The songs attract friends and lovers, and maybe keep rivals at bay. And now we learn that humpbacks in different ocean basins—the South Atlantic and the Indian, on opposite sides of the African continent—share melodies.
"The songs are certainly learned between individuals. So it's thought to be the best example of horizontal cultural transmission—so from peer to peer, rather than from parent to offspring."
Melinda Rekdahl, Marine Conservation Scientist with the Wildlife Conservation Society's Ocean Giants Program.
The International Whaling Commission has identified seven distinct humpback whale breeding populations in the Southern Hemisphere. These are whales that meet up in the same warm tropical waters each year to mate and give birth. But when mating season is over, the whales migrate to the chilly polar regions to gorge on krill.
Using genetics and photographic surveys of migrating humpbacks, researchers know that males in those colder feeding areas interact with other males from different breeding populations. But scientists did not know that this meetup provides the whales with the opportunity to have vocal jam sessions—where they trade melodies.

And the amount of song overlap between the whales that breed off of Gabon, in the Atlantic, and those that breed near Madagascar, in the Indian Ocean, varies year to year. That's according to a study of more than 1,500 individual sounds that were recorded between 2001 and 2005. The results are in the journal Royal Society Open Science.
"It makes sense that in some years there may be different oceanographic conditions, more patchily distributed prey, that may mean populations or individuals may have to move further to find food. And that might bring them into closer contact with neighboring populations and facilitate song exchange."
The findings present researchers with new opportunities to understand how culture is transmitted among animals. But it also allows even greater insight into the workings of populations of humpback whales.
"It shows you connectivity potentially on yearly timescales, which is what genetics information doesn't."
Genetic data can show that different populations had historical interactions. But songs can reveal how two populations interact on a much faster timescale. By combining song information from these populations with whales that breed off the Atlantic coast of Brazil, Rekdahl says researchers can gain a more comprehensive understanding of the dynamics of global humpback whale culture.
"Humpback whale song is an incredibly unique and complex display...and it's quite amazing how complex it is, and how it is such an amazing example of culture in animals."
Thanks for listening for Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Jason Goldman.

参考译文

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学btQW,Bs+tjI#2qpZ。我是杰森·古德曼#)jX6O[)C#sY。
雄性座头鲸是海洋世界的歌唱家@_4)|S7AmcI。这些海洋巨物引吭高歌时，数百英里以外可能都听得到MER[GY&mtIlkB&z。这些歌曲会引来朋友和恋人，或许还能阻挡竞争对手ZUqc%==_8)e,)wP5ja。现在我们知道，在非洲大陆两侧的南太平洋和印度洋这两个不同海域生活的座头鲸，所唱的歌曲是相同的h4[Xz&VQK)。
“这些歌当然是座头鲸个体之间相互学来的pxiteK*c!+1Y。因此，人们认为这是横向文化传播的最佳范例——文化由同辈传给同辈，而不是由父母传给子女.So;hf_+Nkk;D;。”
野生动物保护协会海洋巨物项目的海洋保护学家梅琳达·雷克达尔说到q-s#AY0=@gZiR(6xFv9~。
国际捕鲸协会已经确认了南半球7个独特的座头鲸繁殖种群SH^HvBhXa^。这些座头鲸每年都在相同的温暖热带水域相遇、交配和生育wonQ]@W%o]kd#i3。但交配季节结束后，座头鲸就会迁徙到寒冷的极地水域吞食磷虾+cI.PQ~P&](xqQ)|OQ,。
对迁徙座头鲸进行遗传学和摄影调查后，研究人员了解到，在那些较冷觅食区的雄性座头鲸会与来自不同繁殖种群的雄性进行互动-7X0FF2mR3。但科学家并不知道这种见面给座头鲸提供了机会，使它们得以进行即兴演唱会，交换彼此的旋律XYljBz-!(D。
在加蓬附近大西洋繁殖的座头鲸，与在印度洋马达加斯加附近繁殖的座头鲸，两个鲸群的歌曲重叠部分每年都在变化KZk%17x;RV-Ql@(。这是一项在2001年至2005年间记录了1500多只座头鲸声音的研究所得出的结论O8Z&#NV~t+C([&ZRNAc;。研究结果发表在《英国皇家学会·开放科学》期刊上g^szAD7%IB8FD&Y。
“很可能在未来若干年中，海洋条件会有所不同，猎物分布也更加零散，这意味着座头鲸种群或个体可能不得不到更远的地方觅食XfW;y[l#TJ~。这会使座头鲸与相邻种群的联系更为紧密，从而促进歌声交换,^|4HM&pBlDp[6|6I!r。”
这些发现为研究人员提供了新的机会，使他们得以了解动物间文化传播的方式eng5l|FRlGpj0icY。但这也让我们对座头鲸种群的运作有了更深入的了解9HkieE770F。
“这展示了每年潜在的联系时间表，这是基因信息无法做到的VN#[#SsE6bG|l)%w。”
遗传数据能显示不同座头鲸种群之间曾有过互动历史CD8vwM6Cio(eT~jPG#h。但歌声能揭示两个种群在更短时间内如何进行互动Wp6V4XSaF@1R。雷克达尔表示，通过将这些种群的歌曲信息与在巴西大西洋沿岸繁殖的鲸群相结合，研究人员可以更全面地了解全球座头鲸文化的动态w1ccfFiMM~4D@ao*Ji。
“座头鲸的歌声是令人难以置信的独特和复杂的表演，它是那么复杂多变，还是动物文化的绝佳范例，这简直太不可思议了AlCsx9971%O1U(#PXEi。”
谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学PNtm+Rk;0#-]Jzqydc。我是杰森·古德曼aMDT%Uvh]0。

译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！

重点讲解

重点讲解：
1. belt out 大声唱；大声演奏；
He held a three-hour family Karaoke session in his hotel, belting out Sinatra and Beatles hits.
他在他的酒店举行了一场历时3个钟头的家庭卡拉OK演唱会，其间高歌了辛纳屈和甲壳虫乐队的一些热门歌曲!~^0Lm4DGd|%Zos50T。
2. keep sb/sth at bay 不让（敌人）接近；防止（问题恶化）；
I'm trying to keep my creditors at bay.
我在竭力避开债主]K69zImH2s^1lN。
3. meet up 碰到；遇见；
When he was in the supermarket, he met up with a buddy he had at Oxford.
他在超市遇见了他在牛津时的一个朋友%y@jIxYUgwH&&zm9o]pD。
4. gorge on 贪婪地吃；狼吞虎咽；
I could spend each day gorging on chocolate.
我可以每天只吃巧克力就够了qD&0rZ3Um9P。