学进去

When we think of communication, we usually think not of touch but of speech. This is because language itself happens primarily over the auditory (听力的，听觉的) channel. Since sound travels more than four times faster in water (1,480 meters per second) than in air (343 meters per second), it’s no surprise that a huge number of animals in the ocean also use sound as an efficient means of communication. The low-frequency sounds produced by larger whales can travel tens of thousands of miles underwater. Many species (物种) of fish use sound for communication.

The ocean is full of animals using the auditory channel for communication, but this may be changing. Because of human-made noise, the ocean sounds very different than it did millions of years ago. In our searching for both understanding and having communication with ocean species, we have become our own worst enemy. Ship noise and wind farms, all these activities are creating the loud and unpleasant sound in the ocean. Too much noise makes it difficult for fish to avoid enemies or for whales to hear those low-frequency calls as they now must compete with the noise of shipping traffic.

Jason Bruck and other researchers have focused their attention on the dolphins communication and the problem of ocean noise. They are looking at how even seemingly minimal (极小的) amounts of background noise might make it difficult not only for dolphins to communicate with each other but also to pay long enough attention to learning new skills.

Paige Stevens is studying the ways in which noise affects dolphins to learn living abilities. Just as we see in humans, background noise may make it difficult for dolphins to focus on the task at hand. Stevens’ research could show that it’s getting so loud in the ocean that dolphins might be losing their abilities to think clearly enough to live a normal life.

Humans feel a strong pull to communicate with ocean animals. And we have enough in common with most species in terms of (就……而言) shared communication channels to make this possible, even if it’s just a soft touch. It’s good to want to have communication with our favorite ocean species, but unless we find a way to turn down the volume, we won’t ever hear what they might want to tell us.