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Yulka, a beluga whale, swims at the Oceanografic in Valencia August 11, 2006.
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A Japanese researcher says he has taught a beluga whale to "talk" by using sounds to identify three different objects, offering hope that humans may one day be able to hold conversations with sea mammals.
Nack, a whale at the Kamogawa Sea World marine park near Tokyo, emits a short, high-pitched sound when he sees a swimming fin, a long, high-pitched sound when he sees goggles and a short, low-pitched sound when he sees a bucket.
He correctly chooses the right object when the three sounds are played back to him.
Tokai University professor Tsukasa Murayama started training Nack after he became dissatisfied with hand-signals currently used to communicate with dolphins and whales.
"I have always wanted to talk to whales, and as I thought more and more about it, I realized that they already communicated through sound," he told reporters.
"That is why I thought I could train them to name certain items using sounds they already make."
Murayama said he hoped one day to train whales to express their feelings in a way that humans could understand.
"It would be great if they would be able to tell us not only of their likes and dislikes but also their desires, like whether they are hungry or if their backs are itchy. So the next step would be to teach them a wider range of vocabulary," he added.
However, to expand communication, Murayama said humans needed to use special equipment to produce and detect ultrasonic sounds.
"At the moment we are only using limited sounds audible for us among their wide sound range. But whales communicate better through ultrasonic sounds than through human-audible sounds, especially underwater," he explained.
Japan has come under growing pressure from international environmental groups to put an end to whale hunts, which they say are cruel and violate a 1986 global moratorium on commercial whaling.
Japan considers whaling to be a cultural tradition which it says it only undertakes for scientific research.
Meat from the hunts is available in Japanese supermarkets and restaurants, although appetite for what is now a delicacy is fading.
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(Agencies)
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日本一位科研人員日前稱，他成功教會了一頭白鯨用聲音“說出”三個不同的物體。這一研究成果為人類有朝一日與海洋哺乳動物對話帶來了希望。
這頭會說話的白鯨名叫“納克”，家住東京附近的鴨川海洋世界。每當納克看見游動的鰭狀物時，它會發出一陣短高音；當它看到潛水鏡時，會發出長高音；而看到水桶時，它又會發出一聲短低音。
之后再將這三種聲音播放給它聽時，它也能正確地識別出相應的物品。
東海大學的村上司教授對于用手勢與海豚和鯨魚交流并不滿足，于是他開始教納克“說話”。
他在接受記者采訪時說：“我一直希望能與鯨魚說話，而隨著對這個問題思考的深入，我意識到其實它們已經在用聲音進行交流，這也是為什么我相信我能教會它們用已掌握的聲音‘說出’一些不同的物體。”
村上教授說，他希望有朝一日能教會鯨魚用人類可理解的方式來表達它們的想法和感情。
他說：“如果它們可以告訴我們它們的好惡以及它們想要什么——比如它們是不是餓了，是不是背癢了，那將是一件了不起的事情。所以下一步的任務是要拓寬它們的詞匯量。”
然而，據村上教授介紹，如果要加深人與鯨之間的這種“對話”，人類就需要使用特殊的儀器去制造和探測超聲波。
他解釋說：“鯨魚的叫聲音區很廣，而目前我們只能通過人耳可聽到的聲音與它們交流。但與人耳可聽見的聲音相比，鯨魚更‘擅長’用超聲波交流，尤其是在水下。”
近年來，國際環保組織一直在向日本施壓，要求其停止捕鯨活動。國際環保組織指責日本的捕鯨行為不僅殘忍，而且違反了1986年的國際反商業捕鯨條例。
而日本則認為，捕鯨是他們的一個文化傳統，并稱被捕撈的鯨魚僅用于科學研究。
盡管日本人對鯨魚肉的興趣已逐漸減退，但如今這一美味在日本的超市和餐館依然可見。
（實習生瞿漫 英語點津姍姍編輯）
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