太空也能看到鲸鱼？

Counting whales has never been easy—boats, even planes, can travel limited distances, and catching site of these giant cetaceans is hit or miss.

鲸鱼的计数绝非易事——船只，甚至飞机只能行驶有限的距离，而要遇到这些大型的鲸类往往是计划之外的。

Now, researchers at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) in Cambridge have demonstrated that they can tally at least four different species using satellite images taken 600 kilometers above the ocean.

现在，位于剑桥的英国南极考察团(BAS)的研究人员已经证明，他们可以通过在海洋上空600公里处拍摄的卫星图像来记录至少4个不同的鲸类品种。

Previously, satellite cameras were of no use in whale spotting.

以前，卫星摄影机在发现鲸鱼方面没有什么用处。

Their resolution, which maxed out at 46 centimeters, made most whales look like undistinguishable blobs.

它们的分辨率最高只有46厘米，这使得大多数鲸鱼看起来就像难以辨认的斑点。

But the new privately owned WorldView-3 satellite, which has a resolution of 31 centimeters, enabled BAS graduate student Hannah Cubaynes to count 200 whales across 4230 square kilometers of ocean, she and her colleagues reported last week in Marine Mammal Science.

而这颗新的私人所有的世界之窗-3卫星，分辨率为31厘米，使得英国南极考察团的研究生汉娜.库巴内斯在4230平方公里的海域内数出了200头鲸鱼，她和她的同事在上周的《海洋哺乳动物科学》杂志上发表了论文。

Cubaynes started with seven images from four areas across the world known to exclusively host southern right whales, fin whales, humpback whales, or gray whales at certain times of year.

库巴内斯是从来自世界上四大海域的七张照片开始的，这些海域据说在一年中某些时候回特有南露脊鲸，长须鲸，弓背鲸以及灰鲸出现。

“Oh my God,” was her first reaction, because the whales were so easy to see.

“我的天哪，”这是她的第一反应，因为这些鲸鱼这么轻易就能看见了。

Nearly half of her identifications were definitive, and the whales looked different enough from space that she expects to be able to tell species apart should they occur together in subsequent images.

她的鉴定中几乎有一半都是非常确定的，从太空中看起来这些鲸鱼足够不同，以至于她预期假如它们在后来的图像中一起出现时，她也能分别出是什么品种。

Next, researchers will use the images to develop a computer program that can pick out probable whales, the identification of which will be confirmed by experts.

接下来，研究员们会利用这些图像研发一款电脑程序，它可以筛选出可能的鲸鱼，而最后的鉴定会由专家来确认。

Cubaynes says the system will aid conservation efforts by better revealing where whales go and how many there are.

库巴内斯说这个系统通过显示出鲸鱼去何处，以及那里有多少头鲸鱼，来可以帮助鲸鱼的保育工作。

But to do so, she first has to figure out how to account for wind, sun glare, and whales that are at angles to the surface or moving and thus not fully visible.

不过为了做到这一点，她首先必须要解决的是如何考虑到风力，太阳反光，以及跟海面成一定角度或者在移动而不能完全看清楚的鲸鱼。

And like aerial and ship surveys, satellite surveys will still be hampered by bad weather.

而跟飞机和轮船调研一样的，卫星调研也会受到坏天气的阻碍。

＞＞＞对于这种新的鲸鱼研究技术朋友们有什么看法呢？欢迎给amber留言哦！

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