國家地理:追逐抹香鯨的水下攝影師(4)
In Dominica, Skerry followed a research team led by Shane Gero, a biologist at Denmark's Aarhus University and founder of the Dominica Sperm Whale Project. Each year Gero's team tracks families of Caribbean sperm whales to try to decode their communication. The research contributes to a broader understanding of whale behavior, which can influence human activity and conservation strategies to help populations rebound.
在多米尼克，斯科利加入了肖恩·杰洛的研究團(tuán)隊(duì)，他是丹麥奧胡斯大學(xué)的生物學(xué)家，也是多米尼克抹香鯨計(jì)劃的發(fā)起人。杰洛的團(tuán)隊(duì)每年都會(huì)追蹤加勒比地區(qū)的抹香鯨家族，以試著破解它們的溝通方式。這項(xiàng)研究讓我們能更廣泛地理解鯨魚行為，繼而影響人類活動(dòng)和保護(hù)策略，幫助鯨魚數(shù)目的回升。
Collecting data, however, is slow work. Like other wildlife photographers, Skerry talks a lot about patience, as though that's enough to land a masterful shot. But only when in the boat with him is it possible to understand the mental gymnastics required to wait, trigger ready, for weeks at a time -- knowing that the moment may never come. And yet, every so often, Skerry has not just a good day but an epic one.
然而，搜集資料是件緩慢的工作。和其他野生動(dòng)物攝影師一樣，斯科利經(jīng)常談?wù)撽P(guān)于耐心這件事，彷佛有耐心就足以拍出大師級(jí)的作品。但唯有跟他一起上船，才有可能明白一次數(shù)周的等待所需要的心理鍛練--因?yàn)樯钪且凰查g可能再也不會(huì)出現(xiàn)。不過，有時(shí)候斯科利也會(huì)碰上好日子，而且是極其美好的。
One day last spring, after a string of fruitless weeks, Skerry got a tip from a research boat that a pod of whales appeared to be moving toward the surface to socialize. Such behavior is rare for people to witness, let alone photograph. Skerry raced to the site and found six sperm whales under sunny skies. He swam with them for more than an hour, filling two memory cards with 1,500 images. Nature often has good reason to frown on humans -- but sometimes it smiles anyway.
去年春季的某一天，在連續(xù)數(shù)周沒什么收獲后，斯科利從一艘研究船得知，有一群鯨魚似乎將游向水面進(jìn)行社交。這樣的行為很少被人類目睹，更不用說拍到。斯科利飛快趕至現(xiàn)場，在陽光燦爛的天空下看到了六只抹香鯨。他和它們共游超過一小時(shí)，拍滿了兩張記憶卡一共1500 張照片。大自然常有充分的理由對(duì)人類擺臉色--但有時(shí)候也會(huì)對(duì)我們微笑。
