2026-05-20T10:14:24-0400 / 哥伦比亚广播公司/法新社
周三发布的一项研究显示，两头座头鲸在澳大利亚东海岸与巴西的繁殖地之间游动，其游程距离创下了有记录以来的最高纪录。
由国际科学家团队开展的这项研究，通过分析数万张鲸尾鳍照片识别出这两头巨型海洋哺乳动物，证实它们曾在全球两端海域现身。
其中一头鲸于2007年在昆士兰州被观测到，2019年又在巴西圣保罗附近出现，跨洋游程约8823英里。
发表在《皇家学会开放科学》期刊上的研究显示，另一头鲸先是在巴西巴伊亚州近海被发现，22年后在澳大利亚赫维湾现身，两地距离约9383英里。
研究人员表示，这些照片是迄今为止同一头座头鲸两次被拍摄到的最远间距记录。
他们补充说，这种体长可达55英尺的鲸类完成如此长距离的游动极为罕见。
“尽管这类情况十分罕见，但它们对鲸类种群的长期健康至关重要，”格里菲斯大学博士生、该研究报告合著者斯蒂芬妮·斯塔克说道。
“偶尔有个体在遥远的繁殖地之间移动，有助于维持不同种群间的遗传多样性，”她补充道。
它们“甚至可能将新的鸣唱风格从一个区域带到另一个区域——众所周知，座头鲸的鸣唱会跨洋盆进行文化传播，与人类社会的音乐潮流传播方式十分相似。”
这项研究依托了1984年至2025年间从澳大利亚东部和拉丁美洲收集的近2万张照片，这些照片由专业科学家和民众科学家共同提供。研究团队通过自动图像识别算法对照片进行分析，最终确认有两头座头鲸在两个区域都被拍摄到过。
“这类研究凸显了民众科学的价值，”太平洋鲸基金会的克里斯蒂娜·卡斯特罗博士在一份声明中表示。“每一张照片都有助于我们加深对鲸类生物学的了解，而在此次研究中，更是帮助我们发现了有记录以来最极端的移动行为之一。”
科学家周三表示，两头座头鲸在巴西与澳大利亚之间完成了超过1.4万公里的旅程，创下了该物种已知最长游动距离的新纪录。《皇家学会开放科学》
研究人员称，这项研究进一步印证了有关座头鲸活动模式的“南大洋交换”理论。
该假说认为，这些哺乳动物有时会前往南极觅食区，但返程时会选择不同路线，最终抵达全新的繁殖区域。
格里菲斯大学表示：“受气候驱动的南大洋变化，包括海冰变化和南极磷虾——座头鲸的主要猎物——分布范围改变，可能会让这类跨洋游动在未来变得更加频繁。”
据美国国家海洋和大气管理局（NOAA）介绍，由于商业捕鲸活动，座头鲸在20世纪70年代被美国列为濒危物种，1985年全球最终确立了商业捕鲸禁令。NOAA称，目前14个独特的种群段中仍有4个被列为濒危保护物种，1个被列为受威胁物种。
2 humpback whales swam record-breaking distance between breeding grounds, photos reveal
2026-05-20T10:14:24-0400 / CBS/AFP
A pair of humpback whales swam between the eastern shores of Australia and breeding grounds in Brazil, research published on Wednesday found. The distances of the journeys are the greatest ever recorded.
The work by a team of international scientists used tens of thousands of images taken of whale tales to identify the two vast sea-dwelling mammals and reveal they had popped up on both sides of the world.
One was spotted in Queensland in 2007 and then appeared near Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 2019 — a distance across oceans of about 8,823 miles.
Another was seen off the coast of Bahia in Brazil before being sighted 22 years later in Hervey Bay, Australia, about 9,383 miles away, according to the study published in Royal Society Open Science.
The pictures represent the longest distance ever seen between two pictures of the same humpback whale, researchers said.
Such vast journeys by the whales — which can grow up to 55 feet long — are exceedingly rare, they added.
“Despite their rarity, these exchanges matter for the long-term health of whale populations,” Griffith University PhD researcher and report co-author Stephanie Stack said.
“Occasional individuals moving between distant breeding grounds can help maintain genetic diversity across populations,” she added.
They “may even carry new song styles from one region to another — humpback whale songs are known to spread culturally across ocean basins, much like music trends in human populations.”
The study drew on nearly 20,000 photographs collected between 1984 and 2025 from eastern Australia and Latin America, contributed by both scientists and citizen scientists. The photos were run through an automated image-recognition algorithm, and the team was able to identify two humpback whales that had been photographed in both regions.
“This kind of research highlights the value of citizen science,” Dr. Cristina Castro of Pacific Whale Foundation said in a statement. “Every photo contributes to our understanding of whale biology and, in this case, helped uncover one of the most extreme movements ever recorded.”
Two humpback whales have set new records for the longest-known distances travelled for their species by embarking on a journey of over 14,000 kilometres between Brazil and Australia, scientists said Wednesday. Royal Society Open Science
Researchers said the work also leant further credence to a theory about humpback whale patterns known as the “Southern Ocean Exchange.”
That hypothesis suggests the mammals sometimes travel to feeding grounds in the Antarctic but then take a different journey home — ending up in a completely new breeding area.
“Climate-driven changes to the Southern Ocean, including shifts in sea ice and the distribution of Antarctic krill (the whale’s main prey), may be making such crossings more likely over time,” Griffith University said.
Due primarily to commercial whaling, humpback whales were listed as endangered in the U.S. in the 1970s, according to NOAA, and a final moratorium on commercial whaling was established in 1985. Currently, four out of the 14 distinct population segments are still protected as endangered, and one is listed as threatened, NOAA says.
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